A student notices that their metal spoons get hot when left in their mug of hot tea. This makes the student think that heat is being transferred from the hot water to the spoon, which causes the spoon's temperature to increase and the water's temperature to decrease. They also remember that heat transfer will occur until both objects are the same temperature. They wonder if putting a colder spoon in the hot tea will cause the water's temperature to decrease more than a room temperature spoon. They set up an experiment where they pour the same amount of hot water into two insulated cups. They stick thermometers in each cup to measure the water temperature at the start. Next, they add a spoon to each cup. One of the spoons was left out overnight on the table and is room temperature, and the other spoon was left in a freezer overnight They will monitor the temperatures of both cups of water, and will record the temperature of each when it stops changing. They will compare how much the water temperature changed in each cup to see which spoon (room temperature or cold) resulted in the biggest change in temperature. 7. What is the independent variable? a. How will the student set this change up?​