This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


You’ll discover how to boil water at room temperature, heat up ice to freeze it, make a fire water balloon, and build a real working steam boat as you learn about heat energy. You’ll also learn about thermal energy, heat capacity, and the laws of thermodynamics.


Materials:


  • cup of ice water
  • cup of room temperature water
  • cup of hot water (not scalding or boiling!)
  • tea light candle and lighter (with adult help)
  • balloon (not inflated)
  • syringe (without the needle)
  • block of foam
  • copper tubing (¼” diameter and 12” long)
  • bathtub or sink
  • scissors or razor
  • fat marker (to be used to wrap things around, not for writing)
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Comments

11 Responses to “Special Science Teleclass: Thermodynamics”

  2. jason_black says:

    this class helped my son

  3. Leigh Edwards says:

    I really like this class so much!!!!!!

  4. Alicia MacRae says:

    The frozen waterfall is on the right to me.

  5. Melanie Williamson says:

    whoa, it is so weird to think nothing you touch is really cold or hot,(well it’s just what we call both kinds of heat flow ) . it just is sensors in your skin that read heat flow. Thanks
    Aurora I learned a lot.-Gabe

  6. It sounds like the thickness of the tubing was too big. What if you go down a size or two? You can try other materials, as long as they are metallic (because you’re heating it to hold steam), and flexible enough to bend. You can also use a tube bender to help keep the tube from collapsing (usually a handyman will have one of these, or a plumber… if you don’t want to buy one from the hardware store). 🙂 Hope this helps!

  7. Megan Crowther says:

    Very interesting class. We learned a lot. Unfortunately, when we tried to make our steam boat, the copper tubing would not curve nicely around even a bottle, let alone a fat marker. Instead, it just bent so no water would have been able to go through it anymore. We’re wondering if there is an optional material that could be used instead of copper tubing? Perhaps this is because we are in Canada and it’s colder here? We tried heating it before we did it, but it still would not curve.

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  9. Michelle Gardner says:

    i cant seem to fid thee video:I

  10. It’s a recording from a live teleclass, which is usually about an hour long. You don’t have to do it all in one go, though.

  11. Michelle Hitt says:

    Why did you make the video so long?????????