ACE Mentors of Charleston led students in a “Styrofoam House Activity” on
April 23rd, 2021 via Zoom.

Rob Turner, Co-Chairman of the Board of ACE Mentors of Greater Charleston provided the following description of the experiential learning activity hosted by Ms. Katie Johnston’s class at Wando:

“We ran an activity that approximates heat loss
in a house. There were (3) different Styrofoam
cup houses: one with a scotch tape window,
one with a hole (no scotch tape), and one with
no holes. The one with no holes represented a
very well insulated house. With windows,
holes, voids, missing insulation, etc., in a house,
there is a lot more heat loss in the winter, and
heat gain in the summer. We tested this
concept by pouring hot water into the cups,
taking a temperature, and then taking a second
temperature 10 minutes later. Multiple teams
ran the test. Below are our most accurate
results.”

> Home with no Holes:
Water temp lost 8 degrees of heat
> Home with Scotch Tape window:
Water temp lost 12 degrees of heat
> Home with open hole:
Water Temp lost 20 degrees!

We also learned about:
• How an air conditioner works
• Heat Load Calculations
• Mechanical Drawings
• Plumbing technology
• Electrical Engineering

To learn more about ACE Mentors of Charleston, please follow this link: https://acementor.org/index.php/affiliates/south-carolina/charleston/about-us/