Hot, cold, or just used to it?

Put one hand in cold water and one in warm water. Wait a little. Then put both in the same bowl.

The idea

Both hands are in one bowl. They still disagree. The hand from cold water feels the bowl warm. The hand from warm water feels it cool.

Each hand compares the bowl with what that hand felt before.

So touch tells you a difference. It does not give a fair number.

Temperature is a number for how hot or cold something is. A thermometer measures it. We write it in °C, which means degrees Celsius.

The thermometer reads the same for everyone. A thermometer does not remember what touched it last.

To try this, use warm water, never hot. Hot water can burn your hand. Ask an adult to help.