Dangerous Cold

In this activity students consider the questions: How does heat energy move around? How can we model the flow of energy and changes in temperature? What can be done to prevent hypothermia? Why do we need to try so hard to stay at the right temperature? In order to survive and be comfortable in hot or cold environments, humans (and all animals) need to control the amount of heat energy they gain or lose. To understand this process more fully, it is important to understand the concepts and interrelationship of heat, temperature and thermal equilibrium. This activity uses the idea of ‘flow’ into and out of a system, making an analogy with the movement of water, to help explain what thermal equilibrium means. The mathematical topics used in this activity are: graphical representation, rate of change, equilibrium and modelling. The science topics covered are: flow, rate of flow, temperature, energy and thermal equilibrium.

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