Thermal Comfort & State of Mind

Objective

To demonstrate that thermal comfort depends on the state of mind of a person.

Outcome

Students will realise that thermal comfort is not a static, defined entity, but a variable, subjective experience.

Requirements

None

Prerequisites

None

Procedure

Step 1: As you enter the class, announce that you will be giving students a surprise test in the next 5 minutes and that the marks will be added to their finals. For the next 5 minutes work on creating a scenario similar to that of an exam hall eg. ask students to keep their bags outside the classroom, inform them that an external evaluator will be assessing the test, etc.

Step 2: Once the students body language demonstrates that they are tense, angry, etc. pretend to go outside the room to collect the question paper and return back and inform students that the test has been cancelled for today. Instruct students to collect their bags from outside the classroom and settle down for the class. 

Step 3: Once students have settled down, draw a scale of 1-5 on the board and ask  students to rate their level of thermal comfort when they heard of the surprise test. Ask a few students to share their ratings. Then ask students to rate their thermal comfort after they learned that the test was cancelled. Compare the two scales. 

Step 4: Ask students to reflect on their lives and how their bodies have reacted in similar situations eg. moments of fear where they might have perspired even when the weather might have been comfortable.

Step 5: Based on learnings from the rating and students reflection on similar situations, have a discussion on the interrelationship between state of mind and thermal comfort. 

References

None