Temperature

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What is temperature? Temperature is a measure of kinetic energy or energy of motion. Temperature measures hot or cold in the air, in matter, inside and outside, and in almost everything on Earth. Temperature changes everything! For example, a cup of hot coffee has more kinetic energy or atoms in motion than a glass of iced coffee or Iced tea. Picking up the coffee cup may warm our hands; drinking it may warm our throats. Picking up and drinking the Iced tea or coffee cools it. When two substances have the same temperature, the kinetic energy is static; it does not move from one object, element, or substance to another. When warm air and cold air encounter each other, the warm air has more space between its molecules and rises; the cold air is denser with less space between its molecules, so it sinks to the bottom. In the lowest parts of our atmosphere, storms occur when colder air is on top of warmer air below. The layers rise and fall, creating clouds, winds, and thunderstorms! Even with temperatures, change is the constant!

Activity 1 – Human Comfort Zone

The scientific study defines human thermal comfort, how hot or cold we feel, as individual expressions of satisfaction with the thermal environment. Environmental factors include meteorological air temperature measurements, mean radiant temperature, humidity, and wind speed. The average temperature range for human comfort is relatively narrow: 20-24 degrees Celsius (68-75 degrees Fahrenheit); the average comfortable humidity for humans is 30-60%; lower humidity makes most of us feel cooler and higher humidity warmer. Make a chart that shows the human comfort zone.

Activity 2 – Subjective Human Comfort

Subjective measurements (usually done through surveys) record individual responses about age, gender, fitness activities, BMI, metabolism, and clothing. Added to this information are individual physiological, psychological, and personal preferences recorded through individual ‘thermal sensation surveys’ using a scale of 1 (very cold) to 9 (very hot). The meteorological measurements, subjective surveys, and personal data are collected and graphed during typical and atypical weather conditions. Human comfort standards affect our well-being and productivity. How comfortable are you with the thermal environment of your school? Add your rating on a 1-9 scale from very cold to hot.

Activity 3 – Hot and Cold

Are you hot, or are you cold? We learn quickly to understand the difference between hot and cold. Starting with touch, we know what is warm and what is cool; we are taught the danger of a surface that is too hot (be careful of getting a burn) or too cold (frozen fingers or toes!). We learn how to accommodate different types of weather with more layers or less, sleeping under blankets or not, and staying inside by a fire (or other heat source) to keep warm. We learn that eating warms our insides and exercises raises our heart rate, pumping more blood through our body more quickly. While the human’s average temperature hovers around 98.6, our actual temperature can vary with our location on earth, time of day, being inside or outside, our clothing, our activity level, our consumption of food, and our age. The hypothalamus regulates people’s temperature balance. The hypothalamus regulates the temperature in our inner brains if it works correctly. How do you feel?

Activity 4 – Temperature Scales

The innovation of measuring air, water, and human temperature evolved over centuries. Today, there are two main temperature scales: Celsius and Fahrenheit. The Dutch-German Scientist Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) established 32 degrees Fahrenheit as the freezing point for water and set the human body temperature at 100 ºF(actually 98.6 ºF). Invented by a Swedish scientist, Anders Celsius (1701-1744), the Celsius scale sets 0 degrees as the freezing point for water and 100 degrees as the boiling point of water vs. Fahrenheit, which sets the distance between freezing and boiling at 180 degrees. The United States is currently the only country to use the Fahrenheit scale today. All other countries in the world use Celsius. The conversion formula from Fahrenheit to Celsius Is shown in the image.

Activity 5 – Atmospheric Temperatures

When warm air and cold air encounter each other, the warm air has more space between its molecules and rises; the cold air is denser with less space between its molecules, so it sinks to the bottom. If you have a basement, the basement is often cooler than the first or second floor as the cool air sinks and the warm air rises. In the lowest parts of our atmosphere, storms occur when colder air is on top of warmer air below. The layers rise and fall, creating clouds, winds, and thunderstorms! Temperature is different in the layers of our atmosphere. The temperature of the Earth varies from 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) near the surface to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Celsius) at higher levels. Therefore, the troposphere is warm, the stratosphere is hot, the atmosphere is warm, and the mesosphere is cold. Draw a sectional map of the different temperature ranges in the layers of our atmosphere.

Activity 6 – Rising Temperatures

Today’s temperatures across the globe are rising. In general, Continents are warming faster than the oceans due to temperature increases on land. Europe and Africa are the fastest-warming continents. Rising temperatures bring more droughts, biodiversity loss, water decreases, forest fires, and heat waves. Rising temperatures also bring more storms, flooding, and human migration from loss of infrastructure. As humans develop high-temperature fevers, our earth can become overly hot. We can help lessen increases in temperature by planting trees and restoring wetlands and grasslands. See NEXT. cc’s Trees, Forests, Grasslands, Wetlands, and Climate Change Journeys.

Make a list of 5 things you can do around your house to reduce carbon emissions.

Activity 7 – Rising Heat and Health

As temperatures continue to rise, so do heat-related emergencies. Check out CDC’s new map on tracking heat and heat emergencies. As the heat increases there are some cautions you can take. Stay out of direct sunshine. Take shelter under a tree, or trees, or a shade canopy. Be sure to drink more water than you usually do. Exercise less strenuously when outside and stay hydrated. Close windows and open them again at night if the temperature drops. If it does not drop, use a fan if you have one. If it is over 80 inside, wet a towel and wear it over your shoulders. Fill a spray bottle and keep refreshing your head, shoulders, and chest to cool down. As it dries it will cool you. If you are still feeling hot take a cold shower. If you have access to air conditioning, this can help but remember of all of the other options, it is releasing more carbon footprint into the atmosphere. Make a chart of ways you can stay cool and care for others when the temperature gets over 100!!