How Does Your Temperature Change After Exercise? Fun Science Experiment for Kids

 
   I decided to do a fun experiment with our children to see what happens to their body temperatures after exercise. They love having their temperatures taken and this gave them the opportunity to have it taken twice!

How Does Your Temperature Change After Exercise?  Fun Science Experiment for Kids

You will need:

• Digital Thermometer(s) (depending on number of children)
• Alcohol and paper towels to clean the thermometer
• Willing children
• Pen and paper or notebook
• That’s it!

     Have the children sit down and rest and then take their temperatures and write down the starting temperature for each child.  This was actually the hardest part of the experiment for us (getting them to sit still).  They saw the park and wanted to bounce up and run.  Ask the children if they think their temperatures will go up or down after they exercise.  Then, let them run around or do jumping jacks for several minutes.  Take their temperatures again and write them down. Have the children who are not being measured continue to exercise until it is their turn.  Compare the numbers. Did they go up or down? Were their predictions correct?

These were the results from our sample:
Capri:      Resting = 99.3      After Exercise = 97.6
Ryder:     Resting = 97.6      After Exercise = 96.7
Grayson: Resting = 99.7      After Exercise = 98.3
Xayden:  Resting = 97.8      After Exercise = 97.1

     If your children are able to subtract decimals, have them figure out the difference between their resting temperatures and their temperatures after exercise. If you try this out, I would love for you to share here or on the Capri + 3 Facebook page and let me know if your results were similar.

       After extensive research, I found a variety of answers to the question as to why their temperatures dropped.  There is a discussion on the topic here by Joseph Brennemann, MD and a comment by a biology professor here who wonders if the change may be related to mouth breathing.  I think his theory is plausible as I observed that our kids had trouble sealing their mouths around the thermometer after exercising. 

Here are MORE Human Body Themed Educational Posts from the #TeachECE team:
Where is the Heart? Body Identification Game from Still Playing School
Moving My Body Gross Motor Game from Life Over C’s
Thumbprint Addition from Rainy Day Mum
Let’s Look Inside a Bone from Tiny Tots Adventures
Tips for Helping Preschoolers with Self-Regulation Skills! from The Preschool Toolbox

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