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Investigation Question 1:
How can wind and water affect temperature?
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What To Do
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Setting the
Scene
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Ask students which of them has gone swimming on a cool and breezy day.
What did they feel like when they got out of the water? Were they warmer
when they got out of the water than when they went in? What made the difference
in how they felt? Take some of their answers and record these on the board
or a flipchart. Let students know that they will be investigating how
moving air, water and heat work together to drive the "weather machine."
Revisit their ideas from this first discussion at the end of the investigation.
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Presenting the Investigation
Question
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Introduce your students to the investigation question: "How can wind and water affect temperature?"
Have your students discuss the question in pairs, then in groups, and then as a whole class. Record their answers on the flipchart.
Have your students brainstorm ideas about how this investigation question could be investigated.
- Design an experiment that could be used to test the investigation question.
- What materials would be needed?
- What would you have to do?
- What would be measured?
- How long would the experiment take?
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Assessing What Your Students Already Know
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Before beginning this set of investigations, review with your students
the properties of air and the concepts they have developed in the earlier
investigations. Recall that they learned about air pressure from the first
activity when they noticed that air filled a balloon and made it feel
firm and temperature from the second investigation when they learned to
measure air temperature with a thermometer. Remind students about air
or wind speed and direction from the third investigation.
Tell your students that in this investigation they will learn how air
and water acting together can affect temperature.
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Exploring the Concept
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1.
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Ask students to work in pairs. One student should wet one hand
with water and leave the other dry. This student then places both
hands in front of him or her. The student's partner then directs
the fan on both hands at once for about 30 seconds.
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2.
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After the first student's hands are dry, the students change places
and repeat the hand wetting and drying under the fan. Ask the student
pairs to talk about their observations of how their hands felt and
record them in a few sentences. Ask students to try to explain what
they observed. Ask: What do you think would have been the result
if you had taken the temperature of each hand after you dried it?
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3.
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It is safest to do this next part of the investigation as a
demonstration, as you will be taping thermometers to the wall.
Tape two thermometers securely to the wall, side by side. You could
also tape the thermometers to a cookie sheet or the side of a box.
If the thermometers are unmarked, make a small mark directly on
each stem with a glass marking pen at the level of the liquid inside
the tube. (If the thermometers are graduated in degrees, students
can record the initial temperature registered by each thermometer).
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4.
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Cover the bulb of one thermometer with absorbent cotton and tape
it in place. Now, direct air from the battery-operated fan at the
two thermometers at once. At the end of one minute, ask a student
volunteer to check the levels of liquid in each thermometer. Did
the temperature change in either one? Ask students to record this
result. (At this point, the thermometers will probably continue
to register the same temperature.)
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5.
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Using the dropper filled with water, soak the cotton on the base
of the thermometer. (Ask students to think about their experiences
with the wet hand. Ask for a prediction of what will happen when
you direct the fan on the two thermometers.) Repeat using the
battery-operated fan from Step 2. After one minute, mark or record
the temperature in each thermometer. Ask students: Did the temperatures
remain the same? (This time, students will probably notice that
the dry thermometer stayed the same and the thermometer with wet
cotton registered a lower temperature.)
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6.
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Ask students to write a few sentences or draw a picture of what
they observed in this experiment with the two thermometers.
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