
Surface Type and Greenhouse Heating
Medium
How does the surface inside a greenhouse change how fast the air heats up? Different ground surfaces absorb sunlight at different rates. This means each one warms the air above it at a different rate.
You fill four glass jars with a different surface material. Each jar gets a sealed lid with a thermometer hanging inside. Then you set all four jars in direct sunlight and record the temperature every 10 minutes for one hour.
Compare the readings to discover which surface causes the fastest temperature rise.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that carpet grass surfaces have the least amount of increase in temperature due to the greenhouse effect.
Method & Materials
You will need to set up four jars with different surfaces - water, sand, soil and grass - and measure the temperature inside the jars over an hour.
You will need four transparent glass jars with plastic covers, four thermometers, an electric drill with appropriately sized drill bits, a box of clay, a stopwatch, tap water, sand, black soil and carpet grass.
Results
It was observed that the jar containing water had the fastest increase in temperature and the jar containing the layer of grass had the slowest temperature increase. This proves that the hypothesis that carpet grass surfaces have the least amount of increase in temperature due to the greenhouse effect is true.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it shows how different surfaces can affect the temperature increase due to the greenhouse effect.
Also Consider
Experiment variations to consider include repeating the experiment during different times of the day at different light intensity, or repeating the experiment using different sizes of containers or jars.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related videos
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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