We’re currently in the midst of a heat wave, and are looking for any way to beat the heat. To turn possible-misery into a teachable moment, today I helped Travis explore ways to keep cool, all parked right in front of a nice cool fan!

For this simple STEM experiment, we started out simply by turning on the fan and moving either closer to it or further away. I asked Travis which was cooler, and he rightly noted that being close was best.

Then we draped a wet paper towel over one of his arms. Now he alternated the wet arm and the dry arm in front of the fan. Which felt cooler? The wet arm!

So now we had some scientifically-backed ideas to cool down on a hot day: wind and water. We brainstormed other things that might keep us cool, too, like shade.

For a minute there, we beat the heat!