Temperature

We had an amazing science lesson today. The focus of the lesson was temperature. We read the Science Almanac and the Big Book of What? by Time for Kids, as well as the Exploring Science - Blue Book by Laidlaw Brothers. These three books are very informative with eye catching illustrations, and the language is appropriate for children which makes listening and reading very pleasant.

After reading the books and explaining the meaning of temperature to my son, he began to investigate his first experiment of the day. The experiment was to examine the temperature of the water in three stages: hot, cold and warm. The materials for this investigation are only three bowls. Fill the first bowl with warm water, the second one with hot water and the third one with cold water.

Furthermore, I asked my son to put his hands in each bowl, and my questions were the following:
- How does the water feel?
- Can you tell the temperature of the water? Why?

I also requested him to put one hand in the cold water and the other in the hot water, and leave it for 3 minutes. Afterwards, I asked:
- Does the water in the third bowl feel the same to both hands? If not, which hand feels warm? Why?
- Which hand feels cool? Why?

He wanted to try to measure the water using a normal thermometer but there was no result.

Other questions to request to your child about hot and cold:
- Why is feeling something with your hands not the best way to measure its temperature?
- What does the temperature of something tell you?
- What is the best way to measure temperature?


After my son answered the queries aforesaid,  I clarified to him that the best way to measure temperature is to use an appropriate instrument within the categories below. For example if you want to measure the wind speed, you need an anemometer. I introduced him a few types of measurement instruments and its meaning. We glued the cards on our weather wall. This set of cards is  available for free on TPT:
 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Types-of-Measurement-Instruments

Moreover, we created an anemometer, which was super cool :)!!!
Materials:
2 strips of cardboard, 1 inch x 12 inches; glue or stapler; 4 baking cups; sharpened pencil with an eraser;  stickers; lump of clay or play-doh to flatten the base; push pin.

Instructions:
1st step: Cross the cardboard strips in the shape of an X, and glue or staple it at the center.

 

2nd step: Decorate one baking cup with sticker or markers to stand out from the other cups.

3rd step: Glue or staple the cups to the cardboard frame. Make sure the open ends all face the same direction.

4th step: Push the sharp end of the pencil into the play-doh or clay.

5th step: Push the pin through the center of the cardboard frame and into the pencil's eraser.

6th step: Take your anemometer outside on a windy day and secure it on a flat surface. Record the number of revolutions it makes per minute by counting the decorated cup each time it passes you.

The wind was quite strong in Chicago today which made our cups rotate quite fast. Making this anemometer was a lot fun, but seeing it in action was fantastic!!!! My son was giggling and saying: it works mom!!!!!!! Awesome :)))!!! 

I also downloaded a weather unit for free on TPT which includes a variety of activities, experiments and worksheets. Today, we only focused on temperature and hot/cold activities. This package is worth downloading :
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Weather-Unit-Science-Fun-for-Pre-School-3rd-Grade


We are going to monitor the weather temperature for 10 days.  I am teaching my son Celsius and Fahrenheit at the same time because I think it is important for him to know both, and because Fahrenheit is used just in a few countries, and Celsius is more worldwide. In Brazil we learned Celsius, hence this teaching will be useful for me too :))).
 

It was definitely a very productive and fun day. Hope you were inspired by my post today. Thanks :)!

Fabiana