Staff
Contact
Student Resources
Measuring Tasks
Activity of the Month Archive
Animal Site of the Month Archive
Elementary School Web Resources
Teacher Resources
Unit Resources and Video Support
Catalogs and Order Forms
FAQ About ESP
Learning Standards
NYS Common Core Standards Correlations for ESP Units
Professional Development
Resources
Teacher Created Resources
About ESP
Overview of ESP Units
FAQ About ESP
Ordering Kits
Find Us
Keeping Warm in Winter
Quick Links
ADA Menu
Winter Activities
A Model of the Earth and Moon
Animal Detecting
Animals in Winter
Another Fantastic Comet
Astronomy and Groundhog Day
Be A Nest Watcher
Beanie Baby Classification
Bubbles
Build a Birdhouse
Describing Winter
Earthquakes
Evergreens
First Signs of Spring
Five Senses in Winter
Groundhogs and Shadows
Growing Healthier Plants
Indoor Weather
Journal into Spring
Keeping Warm in Winter
Kitchen Chemistry
Measuring Snow
Melt Patterns
Microclimates in Winter
Moon Watching
Plants as Indicators
Salt and Ice
Snow
Snowflake Studies
Stars
Staying Healthy
Thinking Like a Scientist (Science Fairs)
What Causes Winter?
What Do Scientists Look Like?
Where Do Houseplants Come From?
Winter Nature Nut
Winter Twigs
Your Heart
Your Lungs
Insulation
With cold weather coming on, it would be fun to do some experiments on how to keep warm. There is a lot of confusion about this topic. Here are a few questions to investigate. Try to come up with some more of your own.
Do all materials which trap air inside them have the same ability to keep things warm?
Does the thickness of the insulation change how well it insulates?
Does insulation added to something which is already cold help warm it up?
Why do we use only certain materials as insulation in coats, why polyester fiberfill and not steel wool for example?
Do mittens keep hands warmer than gloves? Why?
Why is it harder to keep warm on a windy day than on a still day?
What is wind chill?
Try to create your own experiments for as many of these questions as possible. Try to keep as many variables the same as you can. For example, use identical containers of water warmed to the same temperature and covered with different insulating materials which are all the same thickness. Once you have some experimental results, do some library and Internet research.
Selecting Insulated Vests and Jackets
Windchill Factsheet
How Animals Stay Warm
Revised Windchill Chart (Standard units)
View text-based website