Just My Cup of Tea

Just My Cup of Tea Activity Card It’s official! Britain is a nation of tea lovers. 165,000,000 cups of tea are drunk every day in Britain. Everyone likes the nation’s favourite cuppa, but have you ever noticed how everyone has their own favourite cup too? Some people insist on a bone china cup and saucer, others prefer a mug. Some cups have lids, some have handles. Some are tall and thin, some are short and fat. They are made from all sorts of different materials, with different colours and designs, and in different shapes. Your challenge The QUALITEA Cup Company is preparing a new advertising campaign with the slogan, ‘Just my cup of tea’ to launch a new range of cups. Can you help to decide which type of cups will be best for their different customers? Here are four of the QUALITEA Cup Company’s customers: Customer one: “I love a piping hot cuppa when I’m watching TV in the evening. I just want my tea to stay hot right to the last sip!” Customer two: “At home, I pour my tea from the cup into the saucer. I like it to cool down quickly. I can’t do this when I have visitors, it just wouldn’t be polite.” Customer three: “I have to carry trays filled with cups of tea around my busy café. I just need cups that don’t slide around and fall over!” Customer four: “Before catching the train to work, I grab a cup of tea and a muffin. I need a cup to take away with me that is cool enough to hold and easy to carry.” Discuss What does ‘best cup’ mean when we are drinking tea? What tests can you do to compare different cups? How will you compare different shapes, materials and sizes?

Getting started Some of your fellow investigators have come up with a few ideas to get you started: “We’re going to find out about keeping the drink hot. We need to investigate which cup is the best insulator by seeing how long it takes the drink to cool down.” “We’re going to find out if different shaped cups affect how quickly tea cools down. We wonder if the size of the open top makes any difference too.” “We’d like to find out if there are cups that won’t topple over and spill so easily. We are going to use a tray to test them.” “We’re going to investigate cups to see what makes them easiest to hold and carry. Which material is easiest to grip? Do handles help? Does the shape make a difference?” What will you do? Do you have a different idea about how to test the cups? Test your ideas You may want to record your findings in a table like this: Which cup insulates a hot drink best? Sticky tape Which cup shape cools the drink quicker? CUP 1 CUP 2 CUP 3 Which cup is easiest to hold? Which cup is best for preventing spills? Share your ideas Which cups performed well in your tests? Do you think any of the cups could be improved in any way? Why do you think this? You could design a web or radio advert for the QUALITEA Cup Company ‘Just my cup of tea’ promotion. Make sure that you include the right cup for each person. Extra things to do Design a brand new teacup for the company to sell. British Science Association Registered Charity No. 212479 and SC039236