Engagement: The E-O-Y Payoff

I hate running into teachers who can't seem to engage with their kids. There's so much relationship-building potential that's lost. So much interest that could have been sparked if the teacher had just been a bit more...something.

I used to think that engagement was more like The Simpsons' "zazz" which Lisa showed. When the woman who said it about Lisa was asked what "zazz" was, "I don't know what it is, but she's got it " was the reply.

But it's not some ephemeral thing. If it starts early - if you show your students who you are, and they let you see a little of them, and those baby relationships start to grow, it's on. Mid-year, or earlier, they're yours. By the end of the year, they're willingly coming back for review sessions, fighting like crazy to get all their missing work in, and actually having a good time doing it (along with their remaining assignments). Relationship built; they're not just your students anymore - they're scholars, they're folks who are in on the joke. It's what learning is supposed to be.

And it's this time of year that I love the most - I get to reap the rewards and be a little weird - below is the final question of our final (regular) test in Honors Chemistry. If it reads strange, that's because you haven't been in class for 90 days, catching all the in-jokes and references... it's the relationship.

Take the time to find an in to engage with your students. Build those relationships. The effort is worth it in so many ways.

Y'all, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there's been another horrible and unfortunate accident. I have a small side hustle - Whole Wellness Super-Premium Artisanal Hot Drinking Water. My water gives you incalculable health benefits because it's heated to 98.3 °C. We heat our water up to 98.3 °C and hold it at that temperature for three weeks to allow the water to gain all the positive nutritional and health benefits it can.?

I was showing Bobby around the factory last week (he was fully iced up), and he slipped and right fell into a 275.0-liter vat of my Whole Wellness Super-Premium Artisanal Hot Drinking Water. The walls of the vats are made of 3-foot thick Styrofoam, so no heat energy is absorbed by the vat. All the heat energy goodness goes directly into the water.?

As soon as he fell, I paused to work with my grief, and then I called for help. But by the time help arrived, the tank was in a new thermal equilibrium and needed to be heated back up. I will always remember his cryptic final words, which sounded something like, "I hid vu bush tea."?

So meaningful. "I hid vu bush tea," too, Bobby. "I hid vu bush tea," too. Let's all remember those powerful, final words of Iceman.?

My tech crew tells me that, since there were no body parts recovered, Bobby was 100% water when he went in. Remember from last week, when Bobby was fully "iced up," his temperature was -76.0 °C. His mass was 6.58 x 104 g.

I want to double-check what my guys told me - how much heat energy (in kJ) was needed to heat the vat back up to 98.3 °C? They gave me a number in scientific notation and sig figs, but I think they're wrong. They may need to be fired. I need a number in scientific notation and sig figs from someone who knows about this stuff (that's you) to ensure it's correct.?

And in doing what I know Bobby would have wanted, we will be bottling the water from the vat soon and putting it into designer, collectible bottles in Bobby's memory. He would have wanted this.?

The "In Memory of Iceman - We'll Always Love You!" bottles in Bobby's memory will sell for $18.99 per 8-oz bottle and will surely sell out fast - they're bound to be collector's items. Order yours soon!?

TL; DR - (a) A lot of ice was added to a lot of hot water, and it melted. What was the final temperature?

(b) An amount of water at a certain temperature (a) was heated to 98.3 °C. How many kilojoules were needed to do it?