Education Technology


Newton's Law of Cooling

Activity Overview

Students will apply Newton's Law of Cooling to solve a murder mystery. This solution involves solving a differential equation.

Before the Activity

See the attached Activity PDF file(s) for detailed instructions for this activity.

During the Activity

Follow the procedures outlined in the activity.

Students will:

  • Represent and analyze mathematical situations and structures using algebraic symbols.
  • Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships.
  • Draw a reasonable conclusion about the situation being modeled.
  • Understand the concept of solving a differential equation in the model process.
  • After the Activity

  • Review student results
  • As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
  • Re-teach concepts as necessary