Air
Temperature Experiment
By Timothy (Aged 8)
How Tim Helped in the Experiment
I helped to make the
thermometer housing by helping to drill the holes in the plastic tube. I also helped by
reading our thermometer and looking at the computer (reading the temperature at Offwell)
and at the satellite pictures and talking about the experiment.
What Tim Observed
I noticed that the
temperature changed during the day. It was not the same at Offwell as here in Cardiff.
Sometimes the weather was cloudy and sometimes it was clear; sometimes it was rainy and
sometimes it was sunny. When it was cloudy during the day, the temperature was cooler, but
at night the cloud cover made it warmer.
It was usually coldest at 7am in the
morning, because it was still dark. There wasnt yet any sun to warm the air. It was
usually warmest in the afternoon when the sun had warmed the air and the ground. The
ground acted like a radiator and reflected heat to the air.
At Offwell, the temperature was higher
than here in Cardiff. The Woodland Centre at Offwell is in a sheltered valley, protected
by trees. The trees help to break up the wind, and they absorb the heat from the sun and
they reflect it.
What Influenced the Temperature
The main things that
affected the temperature, were:
-the amount of cloud cover,
-daylight
-the shape of the land
What Tim Enjoyed Most
I enjoyed helping to make
the thermometer housing, taking the thermometer readings (here and from Offwell), and
running the experiment. I also enjoyed making the graphs and talking about what we saw.
29th October, 2002 |