Building a Simple Thermometer

Build A Simple Thermometer- Step by Step Procedure

These are the supplies used to build a simple thermometer:
a clear straw, modeling clay, a card, scissors, cold water, food coloring, red (I used pink), blue, and black markers, and a glass bottle.

Step 1: Pour cold water into the bottle until it is about three-quarters full.

Add a few drops of food coloring.

Step 2: Put a straw in the bottle so that it dips in the water.

Seal around it with modeling clay.

Step 3: Blow gently into the straw. The water rides up it. Stop when it is halfway up.

Step 4: Cut 2 slits in the card.

Slide it over the straw. Make a black mark to show the level of the water.

Step 5: Put the thermometer in a warm place. I chose the oven.

The water rises. Mark the level in red (or pink).

Step 6: Put the thermometer in a cold place for a while. I chose the freezer.

The water level falls. Mark it in blue.

About Thermometers:

The thermometer is a device that measures temperature using a variety of different principles. A thermometer uses a tube to show the hotness and coldness or the air. The water level is controlled by the expansion and contraction of the air.

A homemade thermometer can be created from simple household materials and provides a reliable and accurate indication of changes in an environment's temperature. Heat and cold will affect the liquid in the homemade thermometer the same way temperature affects a thermometer filled with mercury. As the temperature around your homemade thermometer rises, so will the liquid inside. As the temperature drops, the liquid will drop as well.

Tennessee State Standards:

SPI 0407.9.1 Choose an appropriate tool for measuring a specific physical property of matter.
SPI 0407.9.2 Determine the mass, volume, and temperature of a substance or object using proper units of measurement.
SPI 0407.9.3 Interpret the causes and effects of a physical change in matter.

Extended Resource:

Race Some Beads - Kayla Whitt and Tiffany Phillips

Construct a Camera

Construct a Camera: Step by Step Procedure

These are the materials needed in order to construct a camera: tape, empty tissue box, magnifying glass, tracing paper, cardboard tube, pen, and scissors.











Step 1: Hold the tube on the side of the box on the opposite side of the opening. Draw around it.












Step 2: Carefully cut out the circle you have drawn on the tissue box.













Step 3: Push the tube into the hole. The tube should move in and out.













Step 4: Tape the magnifying glass firmly to the end of the tube.












Step 5: Tape the tracing paper over the opening in the box.











Your new model camera is now ready to use!












Information about Cameras:

A camera is a device that records images, either as a still photograph or as moving images known as videos or movies. The word “camera” comes from a Latin term meaning “dark chamber”. Cameras may work with the light of the visible spectrum or with other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A camera generally consists of an enclosed hollow with an opening at one end for light to enter, and a recording or viewing surface for capturing the light at the other end. A majority of cameras have a lens positioned in front of the camera's opening to gather the incoming light and focus all or part of the image on the recording surface. Most 20th century cameras used photographic film as a recording surface, while modern ones use an electronic camera sensor.

Tennessee State Standards:

GLE 0307.T/E.2 Recognize that new tools, technology, and inventions are always being developed.

GLE 0307.T/E.4 Recognize the connection between scientific advances, new knowledge, and the availability of new tools and technologies.

Extended Resource:

Construct a Camera - Alex Waddell