This lab sheet guides your student through building a functional thermometer from a clear plastic bottle, a straw, rubbing alcohol, food coloring, and modeling clay. Students write two hypothesis statements, then follow seven numbered steps to seal the straw airtight, mark a Celsius scale from -10 to 50 degrees, and test the device in three environments: ice water, room temperature, and warm water. Designed for grades 3-5, the sheet connects directly to heat transfer and states of matter units in a homeschool science curriculum.

Making a thermometer with alcohol in a straw gives your homeschooler a concrete demonstration of why commercial thermometers work, rather than simply telling them. The observations table asks students to record both an estimated temperature and the corresponding alcohol level on their straw scale for each environment, building data-recording habits alongside the science concept. A conclusion section asks what they learned and whether their hypothesis proved correct, completing the full scientific method cycle in a single standalone lab session or as part of a broader physics or chemistry unit study.