As soon as you have finished the investigation above, ask your students
to think about the differences between measuring the temperature of
water and the temperature of air. How are they similar and how are they
different. You could ask them how they might measure the temperature
of a solid material as well.
Let your students discuss the importance of measuring air temperature
accurately. What might happen if the temperature is misread? How could
they check that a thermometer is reasonably accurate - correctly calibrated?
(They could do this by using several thermometers at the same time.
They should all read about the same. If one is different, it's probably
faulty. If they are all the same the fault lies with the observer!)
It might be interesting to have students explore connections between
air temperature and environmental conditions. Ask them what kinds of
animals and plants live in extreme temperature conditions both hot and
cold.
