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:

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