Home » Experiments » DIY Thermometer Screen

DIY Thermometer Screen

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Print

Make a box for your thermometer

Thermometers are kept in special boxes (Stevenson screen) to protect them from sunshine, wind and the surroundings. You can make your own special box.

What you will need:

A sturdy plastic or wooden box that can stand on its side
White paint
A thermometer
Blu-Tack (or similar)

What to do:

  1. Paint the outside of your box white and wait until it’s dry.
  2. Stick the thermometer inside the box using Blu-Tack.
  3. Take the box outside and find a safe, shady place to keep it.
  4. Stand the box on its side so that the thermometer is at the back of the box and protected from direct weather conditions.
  5. Now you can take temperature readings at the same time every day.

Stevenson screenStevenson screen

Web page reproduced with the kind permission of the Met Office

Borrow an Instrument

Did you know the Royal Meteorological Society lends instruments to schools free of charge?

More experiments and demonstrations

We get different sorts of weather because of the way warm air and cold air move around us in the atmosphere.
Topics: Atmosphere
Wet and Dry Bulb Thermometers measure relative humidity.
Topics: Instruments
Make your own Galileo Thermometer. This is a very tricky experiment to get right.
Topics: Atmosphere