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Week 09 · The Thermostat

Wednesday

Look closely at the thermostat
// A switch that feels the room
⏱ about 15 min

Wednesday: Look Closely at the Thermostat

Rocket reaches for the thermostat cover. "Let us open it!"

"Stop," Raven says. "We look. We never open it. What do you notice outside?"

Rocket steps back. "A screen, a number and two little buttons."

Nova shows a glowing cutaway instead. "Here is the inside, safely."

Look only

A thermostat is wired to the heating or cooling.

That is why we never open it or take it apart.

We look at the outside with a grown-up.

Nova's cutaway shows the inside for us.

You need

  • A thermostat on a wall
  • Your eyes
  • Paper and a pencil
  • A grown-up to help
Safety first
A grown-up stands with you at the thermostat.
We look only. We never open the cover.
We never touch wires or pull the thermostat off the wall.
Only a grown-up presses buttons or turns the dial.

The look tour

  1. Find the number or dial. Say the set point out loud.
  2. Find the buttons or the dial that a grown-up uses.
  3. Look for a word like heat, cool or off.
  4. Listen. Is the heating or cooling running right now?
  5. Draw what you see.
What I looked forWhat I found
Set point number
Buttons or dial
Heat, cool or off
Running right now?
LOOK TOUR CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Why do we never open the thermostat?
What did Rocket see on the outside?
Who showed the inside safely?
What word might you see on a thermostat?

Rocket learns

Rocket wanted to open the box. That was a mistake.

Raven stopped him kindly. Now he knows the rule.

Mistakes help us learn the safe way.

SAFE OR NOT SAFE?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Opening the thermostat cover.
Reading the set point number with a grown-up.
Pressing the buttons when nobody is looking.
Drawing the outside of the thermostat.
SentenceTrue or false?
We look at the thermostat but never open it.?
The screen shows the set point.?
Rocket was right to reach for the cover.?
Mistakes can help us learn.?
WHY THIS EXERCISELooking closely and safely is how engineers start.
Draw the outside of your thermostat. Label the screen and the buttons.

You looked closely and safely!

Tomorrow, we measure the room in two spots.

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