Blank Thermometer
Scale to read or mark temperature.
A blank thermometer template features a vertical thermometer outline with a numbered scale but an empty mercury column — students shade or mark the column to show a given temperature, or they read a pre-shaded version and record the value. Grades 1 through 6 use it across science and maths lessons: early grades practise reading scales in whole numbers, while upper grades work with negative temperatures, decimal readings, and conversion between Celsius and Fahrenheit. Teachers reach for the template during weather units, data collection activities, and number-line extension lessons because the thermometer is essentially a vertical number line. That connection helps students understand positive and negative integers, reading scales, and estimation. Parents use it for real-world maths — printing a copy and asking children to record the outdoor temperature each morning builds data literacy alongside arithmetic skills.
Learning objectives
- Read a graduated vertical scale accurately
- Shade a thermometer to represent a given temperature
- Understand positive and negative integer positions
- Connect thermometer scales to vertical number lines
- Record and compare temperature data across time
- Practise Celsius and Fahrenheit scale reading
How to use this template
- Download and print the PDF — two thermometers per A4/Letter sheet.
- For scale-reading practice: shade the mercury column to a specific temperature and ask students to read and write the value.
- For marking practice: give a temperature value and ask students to shade the column up to the correct level.
- Label each thermometer with a date or location for data collection activities.
- Laminate or sleeve for dry-erase reuse during weather observation routines.
Classroom & home ideas
- Daily weather journal: students check the outdoor temperature each morning and shade a fresh thermometer, building a weekly temperature data set.
- Science experiment record: track water temperature at the start and end of a heat-or-cool experiment using two side-by-side thermometers.
- Negative numbers introduction: show winter temperatures below zero and connect the shaded column to a number line running through zero.
- Conversion challenge: shade the Celsius column and ask older students to calculate and label the Fahrenheit equivalent.
- Data display: line up eight completed thermometers in a row to create a visual temperature bar graph for the week.
Skills & curriculum links
Frequently asked questions
Does the template show Celsius, Fahrenheit, or both?
The standard version shows a Celsius scale. A dual-scale version with both Celsius and Fahrenheit labels is available in the same download for grades tackling unit conversion.
Can it be used to introduce negative numbers?
Yes. The scale extends below zero, making the thermometer an ideal first encounter with negative integers positioned on a vertical number line.
How precise is the scale — can students read to decimals?
The default scale marks every two degrees with numbered intervals every ten degrees. Students can estimate and record half-degree or one-degree readings for additional challenge.
Is the template useful for science as well as maths?
Absolutely. It is equally at home in a science lesson on states of matter, a geography unit on climate, or a maths lesson on reading scales and interpreting data.
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