Materials
- 2 or more safe thermometers
- Shoe boxes
- Colored fabric pieces 6" x 6" (15 cm x 15 cm), one black and one white
- Chart paper and marker
What to do
1. Read the temperature on the thermometers and record on a chart.
2. Place one thermometer in each shoe box, and have the children cover one thermometer with a white cloth and one with a black cloth.
3. Place the covered boxes in direct sunlight.
4. Wait several minutes, then lift the cloths and read the temperatures. Write the temperatures on the chart.
5. Compare the white-cloth temperature to the black-cloth temperature. Discuss how the color of the cloth might have affected the temperature and how the colors of our clothing may affect how much heat or cold we feel.
More to do
Science: Try the same experiment with cloth squares of other colors.
-Dani Rosensteel, Payson, AZ
