Younger students:
Begin to explore the use of thermometers.
Materials:
An unmarked thermometer
Large tongue depressors
Cool glue gun
Containers of hot, (not too hot), warm, cool water and ice water
Fine-line laundry marker
Preparation:
Glue the unmarked thermometers to the tongue depressor, one for each student.
Place the thermometer in the cold water and mark the level the thermometer
measures. Do the same in each of the containers. The level of the thermometer
changes as the
temperature changes. The hotter the water, the longer the line. Now, experiment. Feel the
water and predict which mark on the thermometer reflects the temperature of the water in that container. The line gets longer when things are hot and shorter when things are colder. What happens over a period of time? Are there other things that can be measured. Keep track of the room temperature over the course of a few days. Record your findings.
Older students:
Design a way to mark your thermometer into units that can be used to measure the temperature. Mark off the thermometer in your units and name them anything you wish. Choose three places around school and measure the temperature in your units. Record your measurements. Compare your measurements to the measurements obtained by others.