A Nice Ice Inquiry

I teach both the Grade 1-2 classes one period focused on STEAM activities. At the beginning of this month, we looked at snow and investigated whether snow floats or sinks. In that post, I expressed hope at attempting another inquiry, to see about building long-lasting snow people. 

Unfortunately for our inquiry, most of the snow had melted, so I modified the challenge. Every student received a single ice cube in a tiny Ziploc bag. They had to do something that did not involve electricity (i.e. putting it in the fridge or freezer) to try and prevent the ice cube from melting. 

I had high hopes. Two weeks prior, we drew ways to protect hypothetical snow people. The week before that, we shared our thoughts and extracted some of the most promising ideas. We discussed insulation and surrounding it with material at the same temperature.

Most of these concepts flew out of their heads. Many copied the actions of others, even when there was clear, direct evidence that their method wasn't working. Their favorite tactic was to fill the bag with water from the water fountain. This would be no surprise to someone who requests no ice in their Coke; the ice melts in the surrounding liquid, even if the liquid is "cold". 

Even when we compared results, students still flocked to the fountain to fill their baggie.

Some students did attempt other methods. Some blew on the bag, hoping the air would keep it cool. I was surprised to see how many students kept handling their ice cube. Did they forget that their bodies were warm and contact would increase the rate that the ice cube melted? Some tried to make air pockets, with varying success.

Not all of the efforts were baseless. One of the best attempts was from a student who shoved paper towels in as an attempt to insulate. A student in a different class used his water bottle to store the plastic bag with the ice; his attempts were thwarted because he kept opening the bottle to check on his ice!

For one of the classes, I tried to model my thought process, and another student "copied" my example. We thought that inside the school was too warm, so we opened the library window and kept our ice cubes outside. This tactic helped the ice cube last for the 40 minute period, but the noon sun eventually reduced our solid to a liquid. Other students tried to copy, once they saw what we were attempting, but this resulted in many dropped bags outside the window. 

I'm unsure if I should be pleased on dismayed with the way this evolved. On one hand, the students completely forgot or ignored all the scientific discussions we had and applied none of it to the experiment. On the other hand, maybe this was a good diagnostic tool to demonstrate that the concept wasn't solid (pardon the pun) in their minds, or that the excitement of playing with water and ice superseded their understanding of the task. 

For my next steps, I wonder how I might assess this. Should they be judged on their less-than-successful work with the ice? Or do I have them draw / write about what failed and why? Was having it "fail" a better or worse lesson?