Look for: Ideas about kinetic energy and particles movi…

11.A Construct an explanation about why food coloring moves more in hot water than in cold water using the idea that at the particle scale, particles in liquids at warmer temperatures have more kinetic energy than particles in liquids at cooler temperatures.

• Ideas about kinetic energy and particles moving faster in warm and hot water being used to explain the spread of the food coloring.
• Evidence being used from the simulation to back up their claims that particles in hot water move faster.
• Ideas about kinetic energy and particles moving faster in hot water connected to what they observed with the spread of the food coloring and the peppermint dye as well as what they read about in Joule’s experiment.
• Evidence cited from different sources of information to back up claims that particles in hot water move faster, and also that making particles move faster will result in an increased temperature.

If students struggle to connect these ideas, visit the following simulations to help students trace atoms:

Mark two atoms and then press “Play”. Allow students to watch the simulation as a way of helping them explain how the food coloring (and the perfume sprayed into the air) can spread throughout the sample of matter.

If students use ideas about the speed of particle movement accurately but do not use the term kinetic energy, they have mastered the conceptual ideas. Continue to reinforce that kinetic energy is the scientific term for particle movement and give students practice using this new term in subsequent investigations and discussions.

If students use the vocabulary but it’s unclear whether they know what it means, press them to elaborate on how kinetic energy connects to particle movement.