Using thermometers Thermometers are pretty common devices, but we need to look at one carefully, to know better how they work and what precautions have to be made to get an accurate measurement. The thermometers in your kit contain alcohol, not mercury.  If an alcohol thermometer breaks, the broken glass is the biggest danger, not the fluid inside which will quickly evaporate.  Clean up any break carefully and dispose of as you ordinarily would any broken glassware. Real mercury thermometers -- the kind with silvery stuff inside -- should not be used in these activities. Mercury is very poisonous, and persists forever in the environment. Electronic thermometers have recently become more available and inexpensive. They are also more precise: they can measure to 0.1 C (whether this measurement is actually that accurate is not clear). Alcohol-glass thermometers are likely to become obsolete.

Here are some things to think about and do as we start the unit on temperature. Each of the questions requires that you actually do something with the thermometer to investigate the question posed, not just talk about what might happen.

We ask that you do four of the following brief investigations, including #1 and three others of your choice from the list below. 

We also encourage your group to discuss the remaining questions that you did not choose to investigate.
Write in your journal about what you learned, and any questions or problems you encountered.  We will ask to see your journals at the end of the workshop.  Keeping records along the way is part of the workshop assessment, as well as an important part of the learning process. Materials: thermometers*, foam cups*, warm and cool water. (* included in the kit)

1. Measure the temperature of various things and record them in the table

   item	Temperature (oF)     (oC)
   air in the room
   cold water from the fountain
   warm tap water
   your hand

   
2. Observe how long it takes for the thermometer to get to its final temperature when you put it in warm water or cold water, and how long it takes to get back to the temperature of the room when you take it back out.
3. What part of the thermometer actually senses the temperature? Try to find out, by putting various parts of the thermometer into warm or cold water. Does the orientation of the thermometer matter? Does it give the same answer right side up, upside down, lying down, standing up?
4. Do the thermometers in your kit agree with each other, on what the temperature in the room is? (Making things "exactly the same" can be hard, and we might expect there to be some variability -- perhaps too small to notice. But note that it is possible for the thermometer to slip loose from the wires that hold it to the scale, and then you can get really silly readings).
5. Have several people measure the temperature of the air in the room. Where and how is their choice. Don't announce the answers until everyone has finished! What precautions do you have to make to ensure that the readings come out the same?

Check the box when you are done: