Students in introductory physics courses often don't study thermodynamics or thermodynamic events. If any thermal physics is taught in introductory courses (e.g., Physics 101 for Liberal Arts Majors), it usually involves the concepts of specific heat and various temperature scales. Seldom are the first and second laws of thermodynamics taught in detail. In this article, we look at a means to obtain real-time data that will lead to clarifying the first law. (Contains 3 figures.)