A Mercury Thermometer
Early ES / Science
Definition, Measurement, Nature, Science, Tools
Set up a small weather station at your school or classroom and track the high and low
temperatures in Fahrenheit of each day for at least one week. Note the time of day
when the highs and lows occurred. Each student should make a line graph that shows
the high and low temperature he/she recorded each day. Use the internet to compare
these temperatures to the record highs/lows for the same dates as well as the average
highs/lows. Discuss what kinds of natural factors affect the temperature.
Hand out the color image of a mercury thermometer that has both Fahrenheit and
Celsius temperature markings. Display actual thermometer if available. Discuss with
students what types of things they might discuss using this artifact as a text.
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Share when appropriate: A temperature is a comparative objective measure of hot and
cold. It is measured, typically by a thermometer, through the bulk behavior of a
thermometric material (such as mercury) or by other means. It may be calibrated in any
of various temperature scales: Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, etc. Discuss the nature of
mercury and how it expands and contracts as the temperature changes.
Discuss all of the appropriate scientific vocabulary needed to discuss and write about
this text: including: temperature, thermometer, Celsius, Fahrenheit, etc.
Divide the class into three teams (Mercury, Celsius, and Fahrenheit). Have each team
research their elements of the thermometer, compose a background paragraph that
explains its significance and then share with the entire class. Discuss each in turn while
all participants have the image of the thermometer in front of them.
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 What is the most important detail on the face of the thermometer? (roundrobin response)
 Why? (spontaneous discussion)

0 degrees Fahrenheit and 0 degrees Celsius are marked at different
places on the thermometer. What do the numbers below the 0 indicate?
Can there be a measure below 0 that means anything?
 There are more Fahrenheit degrees marked on the thermometer than
there are Celsius degrees (120 degrees F = 50 degrees C). What does
this tell us about the two systems?
 What time of day or night do you think this thermometer will register the
hottest temperature? The coldest temperature? Why?
 Why do you think we see thermometers almost everywhere we go?
 Based on this thermometer and our discussion, how do you think
scientists use this tool to observe, record, and predict the weather?
 What is your favorite time of the day and year—according to its
temperature? Why?
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Return to the small weather station that you created at your school or classroom and
note the high and low temperatures that you recorded for each day for a week. Examine
the line graphs that the students created as part of the Launch Activity. Discuss what
seasonal and daily factors affect those temperatures.
What factors contribute to the temperature on a given day and time? After examining
and discussing a mercury thermometer (about temperature), write a paragraph in which
you explain what factors contribute to the temperature at a certain day and time. Use
details from the text to support your response. (Informational or Explanatory/Explain)
(LDC Task#: 14 )
Write a different day of the week and time of day on slips of paper: the same number of
slips as there are students in your class. Have each student draw a slip at random.
Direct the students to record the temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius on that day and
time. Discuss with students the factors that contribute to the temperature (time of year,
time of day, cloud cover, moisture, etc.). Encourage students to record these factors
when they record the temperature on their day and time.
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Share a graphic organizer that gives students sentence starters for both the
temperature (day and time) and the factors that contribute to that temperature. Have
them fill in the graphic organizer with complete sentences.
Have students write the first draft of their complete paragraphs. Stress using the correct
data from the thermometer as well as details about weather conditions.
Have participants work in pairs to read their first drafts aloud to each other with
emphasis on reader as creator and editor. Listener says back one point heard clearly
and asks one question for clarification. Switch roles. Give time for full revisions resulting
in a second draft.
Once the second draft is complete, have participants work in groups of three-four and
this time take turns reading each other’s second drafts slowly and silently, marking any
spelling or grammar errors they find. (Have dictionaries and grammar handbooks
available for reference.) Take this opportunity to clarify/reteach any specific grammar
strategies you have identified your students needing. Give time for full revisions
resulting in a third and final draft.
Create a multi-day graph to be displayed in the hallway outside your classroom. Work
with students to mark the temperature for each hour on that graph and “connect the
dots” to portray the rise and fall of temperature over several days. Post the student
paragraphs above and below the appropriate points on the graph to complete the story
of the temperature for those days and times.
Terry Roberts
National Paideia Center
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