Temperature measures how hot or cold something is. Thermometers show temperature in degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius. Water freezes at 32°F (0°C) and boils at 212°F (100°C). Students learn to read and interpret temperature scales.
Temperature is a measure of how much thermal energy something has — in everyday terms, how hot or cold it is. A thermometer measures temperature by using a liquid (traditionally mercury, now often colored alcohol) that expands when warmed and contracts when cooled. The liquid rises or falls inside a narrow tube marked with a numbered scale, and you read the temperature where the liquid's surface meets the scale.
Two scales are commonly used. Fahrenheit (°F) is used in the United States for everyday weather and cooking. On this scale, water freezes at 32°F and boils at 212°F. So a warm summer day might be 85°F, a fever is around 100°F, and a cold winter morning might be 10°F. Celsius (°C) is used in science and in most other countries. Water freezes at 0°C and boils at 100°C, which makes the scale feel very logical — 0 is cold enough to freeze, 100 is hot enough to boil. A comfortable room is around 20–22°C.
Reading a thermometer is similar to reading a ruler or number line: find the line where the liquid top sits and read the nearest labeled number, then count tick marks up or down if the liquid falls between labeled marks. If each space between labeled marks is divided into 2 equal parts, each tick equals half a degree; divided into 5 equal parts, each tick equals 2 degrees. Pay attention to how the scale is divided before you read.
Temperature is not just a school concept — it appears in weather forecasts, cooking recipes, science experiments, and medical care. When you hear "the high today is 72°F," you're reading a thermometer's output. When a recipe says "bake at 350°F," someone calibrated an oven with a thermometer. Getting comfortable reading and interpreting temperature now prepares you for all those real-world uses.