MS-PS1-6: Designing a Chemical Hand Warmer
Also called NGSS MS-PS1-6 · Topic: Chemical Reactions · Physical Science
The Official Wording
Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.
Clarification statement: Emphasis is on the design, controlling the transfer of energy to the environment, and modification of a device using factors such as type and concentration of a substance. Examples of designs could involve chemical reactions such as dissolving ammonium chloride or calcium chloride.
Assessment boundary: Assessment is limited to the criteria of amount, time, and temperature of substance in testing the device.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What MS-PS1-6 Means in Plain English
Middle schoolers run an engineering project: they build a device that gets warmer or colder because of a chemical process, like a hand warmer or an instant cold pack. They test it, compare results with goals, and change the design to work better.
Tests judge the device by three things only: how much substance it uses, how long it lasts, and the temperature it reaches. It draws on MS-PS1-2 and MS-ETS1-4, and leads to HS-PS1-4, where students model the energy a reaction releases or takes in.
MS-PS1-6 I Can Statements
- I can design a device that gives off or takes in heat using chemistry.
- I can test my design for temperature, time and amount used.
- I can use test results to improve my design.
MS-PS1-6 Worked Example
A design challenge built on dissolving calcium chloride, the salt sold for melting ice on sidewalks.
How much calcium chloride makes a hand warmer that stays between 35 and 45 °C for ten minutes?
Set It Up: Calcium chloride pellets, zip bags, 50 mL of water per bag, a kitchen scale, a thermometer, a stopwatch, a thin sock and safety goggles.
- Set the criteria: warm enough to feel, safe to hold, and long lasting.Goal: 35 to 45 °C for 10 minutes
- Test bags with 5 g, 10 g and 15 g of pellets in 50 mL of room-temperature water.Peaks: 31 °C, 38 °C, 47 °C
- Record the temperature every minute for ten minutes.10 g stays above 35 °C for only 6 minutes
- Improve the 10 g design by slipping the bag inside the sock to slow heat loss.Above 35 °C for 11 minutes
- Compare every version against the criteria.10 g in a sock meets all three goals
Ten grams in a sock met the goals, while 15 g got too hot to hold safely and 5 g never got warm enough.
Why it works: Dissolving calcium chloride releases thermal energy, so more pellets release more, and insulation slows how fast that energy escapes to the air.
Common Mistakes with MS-PS1-6
Changing several things between tests
More pellets, less water and a new bag, all in one test
Try this: Change one design factor per test, like the amount of pellets, so you know which change made the device warmer or longer lasting.
Thinking hotter means better
“The 15 g bag wins because it got the hottest.”
Try this: Judge each design against all the criteria. A bag too hot to hold safely fails, even if it heats up fastest.
Thinking a cold pack adds cold
“The chemicals make cold.”
Try this: An instant cold pack absorbs thermal energy from its surroundings as the substance dissolves, which is why your skin feels cold.
Where MS-PS1-6 Fits
Practice MS-PS1-6
Quick Check
- A pack gets cold when you squeeze it. Is energy going into or out of the pack?
- Why test the hand warmer for ten minutes, not just the first minute?
- Name one change that could make a hand warmer last longer.