STEM - Thermal Protection System Design Challenge at CMS

Teams of sixth grade students are challenged to design, build, and test thermal protection systems (TPS). The team can use up to 1.50g of aluminum foil, aluminum screen, and brass screen to create a heat shield that they design to protect a brass screw that has been hot glued to a wood dowel. They construct "blueprints" and rationale for their design using their knowledge of heat transfer. The TPS is then subjected to the heat of a propane torch and the students measure the time that the TPS and screw stay attached to the dowel before the hot glue melts and the screw falls off. Each team analyzes their previous design, and generates a newly revised design in an attempt to increase the length of time that the screw stays attached to the dowel. As part of the process, students use their scientific knowledge about heat transfer and apply this knowledge to engineer a thermal protection system. They use many tools such as balances, stopwatches, and rulers. They manipulate materials that are known conductors in new ways as they make discoveries and try to turn them into insulators. The students analyze the data they collect after testing each design and use that information to revise their design. By actively observing the effect of the heat on their thermal protection system, screw, and hot glue, and trying to stop that transfer of heat, they gain a clear understanding of how heat transfer works. Students love the challenge of trying to make their design more successful. What middle school student isn't excited by fire and its affects on materials? As this activity progresses, students will actively start using appropriate terminology, such as ablation, conduction, and convection, to describe what they are observing. With each new design, the length of time that the TPS protects the hot glue from melting increases. When the students have successfully increased that time, they have internalized their learning of heat transfer and applied it to a practical problem.