Education Technology


Warming a Solution

Activity Overview

In this activity, students use a temperature sensor to measure the temperature of water samples before and after adding washing soda. They understand concepts of dependent and independent variables and study the relationship between them.

Before the Activity

  • Install the CBL/CBR Application on the students' graphing calculators using TI Connect™, TI Connectivity cable and the unit-to-unit link cable
  • Connect the TI-73 to the CBL 2 unit
  • See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
  • Print pages 141 - 148 from the attached PDF file for your class
  • During the Activity

    Distribute the pages to your class.

    Follow the Activity procedures:

  • Pour 100 ml of water in each of the 5 containers and record the initial water temperature
  • Use the first container without washing soda as a control and record the temperature
  • Add 2 teaspoons of washing soda to a container and note the temperature
  • Repeat the activity by adding 3 teaspoons, 4 teaspoons, 5 teaspoons, and 6 teaspoons of washing soda and record the final temperature
  • Create a list with the amount of soda added, the initial and the final temperatures
  • Generate a triple bar graph and create a scatter plot to compare the changes in temperature after the soda is added
  • After the Activity

    Students will complete the Data Collection and Analysis Sheet and answer the questions listed in it.

    Review student results:

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