Teach lesson
The thermal camera's hidden clue
Look at real computer equipment through a thermal camera, find a warmer-looking area, and explain what the image reveals.
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Learning Outcomes
Compare two areas in one thermal image using its displayed scale.
Identify a thermal image as a temperature-related picture, not the objects' visible colours.
Student activity preview
Activity Content
Preview only. In a class session, students can fill in responses and submit their work to the teacher.
1. An ordinary-looking computer
4 min
An ordinary photograph shows us what computers look like. Today we will investigate their temperature without touching them.
A thermal camera detects invisible infrared radiation and turns it into a picture. We will use a recording of a real camera looking at computer equipment.
Will all parts of the computer area appear equally warm?
Our computer area
Look inside the red circle. This is an ordinary photograph of the area we will investigate.
Your first idea
What do you predict the thermal camera will show in this area? Choose one. This is a first idea, not a test of what you already know.
2. Look through the thermal camera
12 min
Compare clues with a partner. Each of you should open the lab from your own activity and record your own three answers.
Open the Thermal Camera lab
Choose Choose scenario (Elige escenario).
Select Small office (Oficina pequeña) → Laboratory (Espacios tipo laboratorio) → Servers emitting heat (1) (Calor emitido por servidores informáticos (1)).
Select Start observing (Empezar a observar) and watch the whole 18-second recording. Find the small screen on the handheld camera: that is the thermal picture.
Select Repeat (Repetir). This time, look for two areas on the camera's screen that differ. You are replaying the same recording; you are not heating or cooling the computers.
Return to this activity. Mark the lab step complete after both viewings.
Take a closer look after watching
This still is from the recording you just watched. Compare two areas within this one picture.
The narrow strip at the right edge of the camera's screen is the scale. Match a patch's colour to a place on that strip: higher on the scale means warmer; lower means cooler. The white writing and symbols are labels, not warmer objects.
To compare without naming colours, use the scale's two ends: find a very pale patch matching the top end and a dark patch matching the bottom end. Describe their positions. This shortcut works for those endpoints; brightness alone cannot order all the colours between them.
One clue from the image
Choose two patches on the camera's thermal picture and match each to the scale. Write one short sentence saying which appears warmer. Describe their positions so someone else can find them.
3. What did the camera reveal?
6 min
Look back at your first idea. Tell your partner whether the camera supported it or surprised you.
What can we say?
What does the thermal picture add to the ordinary photograph?
The camera gives us a clue about surface temperature. Its colours are chosen by the camera, not painted on the computers. We say appears warmer because the surface and reflections can affect the image. A warm-looking area alone does not tell us whether equipment is faulty.
Before you finish: check your three answers, then submit the activity.
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