Temperature *
*Note: This is an abbreviated Project Idea, without notes to start your background research, a specific list of materials, or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated Project Ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk.
Abstract
What are cold fronts and warm fronts? What happens when a cold front meets a warm front? You can test this using different temperatures of water. Use food coloring to label the cold and hot water, then carefully combine the two liquids together. What happens? How do they mix? You can also fill water balloons with hot or cold water, and then float in a hot or cold water bath. How does temperature affect the movements of the balloon? You can do similar experiments with hot and cold air in balloons. Put an air-filled balloon in the freezer, what happens? How does temperature affect the movement of the balloon? Temperature can be measured in the air or at the surface. Investigate different methods for measuring temperature, do they all give the same information? Temperature can also change between urban and rural areas due to the "urban heat island effect" which is thought to be caused by the warming of surface temperature by buildings and structures that absorb heat in an urban environment. Test this by measuring surface temperature in and out of city boundaries, or by comparing data from rural and urban weather stations. (FI, 2006; GLOBE, 2006; NCAR, 2006; NOAA, 2006; Unisys, 2006; Weather Underground, 2006; WMO, 2006)Share your story with Science Buddies!
Last edit date: 2013-01-10
Bibliography
- FI, 2006. "Franklin's Forecast," The Franklin Institute. [accessed: 3/1/2006] http://www.fi.edu/weather/.
- GLOBE, 2006. "The GLOBE Program: Measurements: Protocols," GLOBE, managed jointly by UCAR and CSU. [accessed: 3/1/2006] http://globe.gov/fsl/html/templ.cgi?measpage〈=en&nav=1
- NCAR, 2006. "NCAR Science and Education Outreach Page," National Center for Atmospheric Research. [accessed: 3/1/2006]
http://eo.ucar.edu/. - NOAA, 2006. "NOAA Homepage," National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. [accessed: 3/1/2006] http://www.noaa.gov/.
- Unisys Corp, 2006. "Unisys Weather," Blue Bell, PA. [accessed: 3/9/2006] http://weather.unisys.com/.
- The Weather Underground, Inc, 2005. "The Weather Underground," Ann Arbor, MI. [accessed: 12/13/05] http://www.wunderground.com/.
- WMO, 2006. "World Meteorological Organization," WMO, United Nations. [accessed: 3/1/2006] http://www.wmo.ch/index-en.html.
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