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The Hot Chocolate Effect: Introducing the Scientific Method

The Hot Chocolate Effect: Introducing the Scientific Method. Bradley W. Carroll and Michelle B. More Weber State University Ogden, UT. Physics. Chemistry. Science according to Science Educators. Science according to Science Educators.

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The Hot Chocolate Effect: Introducing the Scientific Method

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  1. The Hot Chocolate Effect:Introducing the Scientific Method Bradley W. Carroll and Michelle B. More Weber State University Ogden, UT Physics Chemistry

  2. Science according toScience Educators

  3. Science according toScience Educators This is a severe distillation of the scientific method!

  4. Painting according toScience Educators

  5. Painting according toScience Educators This is a severe distillation of the painting method!

  6. Science according toScientists “The scientific method is doing your damnedest, no holds barred.” - P.W. Bridgman Nobel Prize 1946for high-pressure physics

  7. Observation Hypothesis formation Experimentation Peer review The Essential Elementsof the Scientific Method are intertwined with curiosity, inspiration, frustration, tenacity, and lots of hard work!

  8. Problem: How can we show our pre-service elementary teachers the real nature of science? Principles of Physical Science

  9. The Hot Chocolate Effect When a spoon is tapped on the bottom of a mug of freshly made hot chocolate, a tone of constantly rising pitch is heard.

  10. The Hot Chocolate Effect intrigues everyone who hears it! • Other science faculty • Science students • Students of science students For 30 years I’ve shared it with: Lori Criswell’s elementary students

  11. The Hot Chocolate Effect intrigues everyone who hears it! • My yoga class • You • Everyone is hooked! • Named byFrank Crawfordin 1982

  12. Our First Lab plus hot water, cold water, milk,…

  13. Students’ Reactions in Lab “Once I got started,my mind went crazy with questions.” Our students keep journals as they • formulate their own questions (make hypotheses) • experimentally seek answers • modify (or discard) hypotheses based on experimental outcome • share their results (peer review) • recognize the tentative nature of their conclusions • continue experimenting at home!

  14. Use students’ journals to discuss what they did. Review their lab comments and identify them with the essential elements of the scientific method. Hot chocolate context breathes life into the textbook scientific method. Students really, really, really want to know the answer. A good mystery is more compelling than a mere “fact”. The Day after Lab

  15. What Causes theHot Chocolate Effect? It is similar to the sound made by blowing over a Coke bottle. • The air above the Coke’s surface vibrates with a sound wave. • The hot chocolate below the surface vibrates with a sound wave. • The Coke bottle’s tone depends on the height of the air above the Coke’s surface. The less air, the higher the pitch. http://www.phys.ufl.edu/demo/3_OscillationsWaves/C_Acoustics/CokeBottles.html

  16. However, the Coke analogy does not explain the rising pitch of the hot chocolate! The depth of the hot chocolate does not change as the pitch rises. Tiny bubbles in the hot chocolate lower the speed of sound in the liquid by making it more compressible (less “springy”). Top Secret

  17. The Rising Pitch • It takes more time for the sound to travel between the bottom of the mug and the surface (lower pitch). • As the bubbles rise and burst, the speed of sound increases and the pitch rises. Explanation due to Frank Crawford, American Journal of Physics, 1982.

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