- a iPad
- 2 temperature probes
- 1 lamp with a 150 watt bulb
- 2 rulers
- Tape
- 2 600 mL beakers
- soil
- plastic wrap
First we taped each probe to a ruler 3.0 cm away from the end. Then we connected each of our temperature probes wirelessly to an iPad to collect the data on a graph. Each ruler was placed inside a beaker. One beaker was securely covered in Saran Wrap. The other was left uncovered. We turned on a lamp with a 150 watt bulb and, after the beakers were positioned equally under the light, we pressed start on each iPad at the same time. After 15 minutes we stopped collecting data and turned off the light.
The results were that the beaker with the Saran Wrap over it heated faster and was approximately 5 degrees higher than the beaker left uncovered. The Saran Wrap behaves similar to how greenhouse gases (created by the burning of fossil fuels) work in our atmosphere -- like a blanket covering our planet. We learned that we need the Greenhouse Effect to keep our planet warm and life sustaining but by adding excessive greenhouse gases into the atmosphere we retain more heat thus contributing to global warming.
I really hope that this experiment was as fascinating to you as it was to me. As always comments are welcome and encouraged.