Excerpt from
The Jensen Family

"Hi, Son," Mrs. Jensen greeted. "How was school today?"
"Terrible!" Jason groaned. "We've only been going one week, and already we gotta do a big report for science class. I feel like a tortured slave!"

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#50- Not so Hot!

A Character story about integrity.

Jason banged into the kitchen and plopped into a chair.
"Hi, Son," Mrs. Jensen greeted. "How was school today?"
"Terrible!" Jason groaned. "We've only been going one week, and already we gotta do a big report for science class. I feel like a tortured slave!"
"Now, Son," Mrs. Jensen remarked with a grin, "I don't think it's that bad. You always have liked to learn new things in science."
"Yeah, but let a guy get into this school thing a little again before piling on these major headaches- that's what I say." He sighed deeply and then continued. "But there's one good thing about it. There's a new boy in our class named Jonathan and Mr. Parkinson put us together to work on the subject of weather. Jonathan is really good in science so that should make it . . . well, at least tolerable." Jason stood and then started for the living room. "Oh, by the way, Mom, I told Jonathan he could come over after supper to get started. That's O.K., isn't it?"
"Yes, that will be fine. But next time, you better ask before making plans. We might have something going. I surely hope he's a better influence on you than Steven was last summer." That evening, Jonathan and Jason gathered several books and sat at the table.
"I'm sure glad you're working with me," Jason began. "It makes it more fun to work with someone who is interested in it."
"Same here," Jonathan returned. "The other kids said you and your sister are the best students in the class. I sure hope we can get a good grade on this."
"Yah, me too." Jason grabbed the top science book on the pile and began to page through the weather section.
"You can do the part on rain," Jonathan commented. "Ever since this summer I don't like rain any longer. Two times we went on camping trips and the rain ruined the whole thing."
"O.K.," Jason chuckled. "Maybe we should start here, with temperature. You want to do something about thermometers, Jonathan?"
"Sure, but I doubt it would take more than a sentence or two. I mean, a thermometer is a thermometer, right?"
"I guess," Jason agreed. "But there's several pages about it here."
After a few minutes, Jonathan remarked, "There's more here than I thought. It says that there are Fahrenheit thermometers and Celsius thermometers. The first kind is used in the United States and the second one in Canada and Europe. Celsius degrees are larger because there are only 100 of them between freezing and boiling of water. There are 180 Fahrenheit degrees between freezing and boiling."
"That reminds me, during the summer Julie said it was 80 degrees and Dad asked her if it was Celsius or Fahrenheit. She guessed Celsius and Dad yelled, 'Hurry up! Let's all climb into the freezer before we cook to death!' It was funny, but it also helped us both remember that the higher one is usually the Fahrenheit."
"Hey, we've got one of these at home," Jonathan continued pointing at a picture in the book. "We just always called it an inside-outside thermometer but the real name is a Bourdon tube thermometer. The tube outside the window has a liquid in it that expands when the air warms and makes the red stuff go up in the thermometer. Huh. I always wondered how that worked. And here's a thermometer called a thermograph that draws a picture of the temperature on a paper. The paper goes around on a drum and the needle from the thermometer has a pen on it that keeps drawing a line all day. That way they can find out the temperature even when no one is there to read it on the thermometer. Pretty neat, uh? Hey, Jason, are you listening or not?"
"Oh . . . yeah, I heard you. It just got me thinking about something Dad says a lot. He tells Julie and me that we shouldn't be thermometer Christians."
"What does he mean by that?" Jonathan wondered.
"Well, thermometers just go up and down with the temperature, but they never do anything to make it warmer or cooler, right?"
"Right," Jonathan agreed.
"Dad says that . . . well, like when someone at school might want to do something wrong, instead of just going along with it like a thermometer does with the temperature, we should stand for right, and do what we can to keep the wrong from happening."
"Oh, yeah. I get it," Jonathan said. "My dad never called it that, but he tells me and my sisters to stand for right all the time too. But I admit, sometimes it's easier to just go along with the crowd, and that's not so hot I know." Jason started to grin at the unintentional pun but didn't interrupt. "That's another reason I'm glad I'm working with you on this science project, Jason. When you hang around someone who wants to do what's right, it's a lot easier to do it. Maybe we can even be friends."
"Fine by me," Jason grinned, offering his hand. They shook hands and both looked mighty happy about it.
"Well," Jason said, "let's get back at this report. I think it might be a lot of fun after all."

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1. If the temperature went up 10 degrees on the Celsius scale one day, and 10 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale the next day, on which day did the air heat the most?
2. To change Fahrenheit degrees to Celsius degrees, you subtract 32, then multiply the Fahrenheit degrees by 5, then divide that answer by 9. When Julie said it was 80 degrees, what was the correct reading in Celsius?
3. (EXTRA HARD ONE) As the two temperature scales get lower, they get closer together. At what temperature are both Fahrenheit and Celsius the same?

 

 

ANSWERS: 1) the first day since 10 degrees Celsius is a greater rise 2) 27 degrees C. 3) 40 below zero (-40)