Conductors and Insulators

We did an experiment to see which materials were better conductors of heat and which would make better insulators. We used hot water in a metal pail, a ceramic mug, a plastic cup and a styrofoam cup. They decided the metal pail was a better conductor of heat and the styrofoam cup was a better insulator. After the experiment they were to construct and argument about why we should use metal pans when cooking and why they are better conductors of heat rather than the other objects we tested during the experiment. 

We also tried to melt butter on a wooden spoon, a metal spoon and a plastic spoon that were sitting in a shallow pan of hot water (forgot to get pictures). We found that the butter melted almost immediately in the metal spoon and it took a bit longer for it to melt in the plastic spoon, however, the wooden spoon kept the butter in a solid state for the longest amount of time.