This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this science and engineering practice.
Comments about Including the Science and Engineering Practice
The students will conduct reactions that result in temperature increases as well as decreases. They then need to be able to interpret what those changes in temperature tell them about what is going on with the atoms in the chemical reactions. The idea of perspective is really important here as they make this determination. What is it that they are taking the temperature of, exactly? Is it the atoms and molecules that are reacting, or is it their surroundings? This can be a tricky point for students to understand. You might have students draw simple pictures of their experimental set up, including the beaker, thermometer, circles to represent the reacting particles and, most importantly, the water the particles are dissolved in. Then, have the students draw arrows to indicate if energy is going into or out of the particles during the reaction. These pictures can help them see, for example, that if energy is leaving the particles as the product forms, then the energy goes out into the solution. As such, the temperature of the solution goes up. This is also a great opportunity to have students practice making arguments from evidence.