🌡️ Temperature Detective

Reading a Thermometer

A thermometer tells us how hot or cold something is.

It's warm! 🔆

In this Spark you will learn to:

  • Read the numbers up the scale 📈
  • Read positive temperatures (above 0°C)
  • Read negative temperatures (below 0°C, with a minus sign)
  • Decide which is warmer or colder ❄️🔥

Tap Next to begin, detective!

The parts of a thermometer

Tap each glowing ? to discover what it does.

? ? ?

👆 Tap a “?”

Each part has a special job. Find all three!

Found 0 of 3

Reading above zero ☀️

The liquid rises as it gets warmer. Read the number where the red tops out.

Read the red line

What temperature is shown?

Numbers above 0 are positive — just say the number, like “twenty degrees”.

Going below zero ❄️

When it gets very cold, the liquid drops below 0. These numbers need a minus sign (–). We call them negative.

Brrr!

What does this cold thermometer read?

Below zero, count down from 0: −1, −2, −3…

Your turn — set the temperature 🖐️

Drag the red liquid up and down the tube. Make it show the target!

Target: 7°C

Your reading:

Slide the liquid until your reading matches the target, then it locks in. ✅

Drag the liquid to begin…

Which one wins? 🌡️ vs 🌡️

Remember: on the scale, higher = warmer, lower = colder. And −5 is colder than −1 (it is further below zero).

Round 1 — Which is COLDER?

or
🏅 Temperature Detective — Level Up!

What you learned

Brilliant work — you can read any thermometer now! 🎉