Measuring（测量；估量）/ˈmeʒə/ heat across the school grounds is the science club's new scientific（科学的）/.saiәn'tifik/ objective（目标；客观的）/әb'dʒektiv/. A city forecast（预测；预报）/'fɒ:kɑ:st/ predicted（预测）/pri'dikt/ that the whole district（地区）/ˈdɪstrɪkt/ would be unusually（不寻常的、罕见的）/.ʌn'ju:ʒu:l/ warm, but one courtyard（庭院、天井）/'kɒ:tjɑ:d/ seemed hotter（更热的）/ˈhɑtər/ than every other location（位置）/lәu'keiʃәn/. The students wanted to investigate（调查）/in'vestigeit/ whether traffic volume（量；容量）/'vɒljum/, carbon（碳）/'kɑ:bәn/ from buses, or the shape of the surrounding（包围、环绕）/sә'raund/ buildings caused the phenomenon（现象）/fi'nɒminәn/. They also considered the atmosphere（大气；气氛）/'ætmәsfiә/ above the dark brick（砖）/brik/ surface.

The team placed a small device（设备）/di'vais/ at various（各种各样的）/ˈvɛriəs/ points. Each monitor（监测器；监测）/ˈmɑnətər/ sent（发送）/sent/ input（输入）/'input/ to a database（数据库）/'deitәbeis/, which produced an output（输出；产出）/'autput/ every minute. A digital（数字显示的、数字的）/'didʒitәl/ display（显示；展示）/dis'plei/ turned the numbers into a diagram（图表；示意图）/'daiәɡræm/ and a colour image（图像；形象）/ˈɪmɪʤ/. The initial（最初的）/i'niʃәl/ finding（调查发现）/'faindiŋ/ looked significant（显著的；重要的）/sɪgˈnɪfɪkənt/: the courtyard reached the maximum（最大值）/'mæksimәn/ temperature each afternoon. However, an external（外部的）/ik'stә:nl/ sensor（检测器）/'sensә/ showed a much lower（降低、跌落）/'lәuә/ rate（比率；速度）/reɪt/ of change, and the difference remained visible（可见的）/'vizәbl/ even on cloudy days.

Ms Patel asked the class to take into account（把……考虑在内）/teɪk ˈɪntu əˈkaʊnt/ the courtyard's（庭院、天井）/'kɒ:tjɑ:d/ geometry（几何形状；几何学）/dʒi'ɒmәtri/ and the distance（距离、远方）/'distәns/ between each sensor and the wall. She paused（停顿）/pɔːzd/ to point out（指出）/pɔɪnt aʊt/ a weakness（虚弱、薄弱）/'wi:knis/: “A random（随机的）/'rændәm/ sample（样本）/'sæmpl/ can be useful（有用的）/ˈjuːsfəl/, but measurement（尺寸、度量）/'meʒәdmәnt/ frequency（频率）/'fri:kwәnsi/ and position（位置）/pəˈzɪʃn/ must follow the same guideline（指导原则）/'gaidlain/.” Mei measured the gap（缝隙、缺口）/gæp/ in centimetres（厘米）/'senti,mi:tә(r)/ and discovered that the hottest（最热的）/ˈhɑtəst/ monitor touched a metal（金属）/ˈmɛtəl/ element（要素；部件）/ˈɛləmənt/. The metal stored heat and affected（影响）/əˈfɛkt/ the result.

The students needed to come up with（想出；提出）/kəm əp wɪθ/ a better procedure（程序；步骤）/prəˈsiʤər/. They moved every device into shade（荫、阴暗）/ʃeid/, used the same height, and could make use of（利用）/meɪk juz əv/ one calibrated（测定口径、校准）/'kælibreit/ monitor. Then they began to calculate（计算）/'kælkjuleit/ the daily average（平均、平均数）/'ævәridʒ/, minimum（最小值）/'minimәm/, maximum, range（范围）/reɪnʤ/, and percentage（百分比）/pә'sentidʒ/ change. Multiple（多个的）/'mʌltipl/ readings（阅读、知识）/'ri:diŋ/ helped them see the distribution（分布）/.distrә'bju:ʃәn/ more precisely（精确地）/pri'saisli/. They could integrate（整合）/'intigreit/ the figures（数字；图表）/ˈfɪgjər/, interpret（解释；理解）/in'tә:prit/ each variation（变化；差异）/.vєәri'eiʃәn/, and estimate（估计）/'estimeit/ how much temperatures might vary（变化；不同）/'vєәri/ across a realistic（现实的）/riә'listik/ school day. The overall（总体的）/'әuvәrɒ:l/ tendency（趋势）/'tendәnsi/ was now clear. Eighty percent（百分之……）/pərˈsɛnt/ of the difference had disappeared（消失、不见）/.disә'piә/.

According to（根据）/əˈkɔrdɪŋ tɪ/ the corrected statistic（统计数字）/stә'tistik/, traffic still added（广告）/æd/ some heat, but the wall position had created the larger error（错误、过失）/'erә/. What had looked like a climate（气候、社会趋势）/'klaimit/ pattern（模式；规律）/ˈpætərn/ was mainly a testing mistake. On the basis of（在……基础上）/ɔn ðə ˈbeɪsɪs əv/ the new evidence（证据）/ˈevɪdəns/, the team revised（校订、修正）/ri'vaiz/ its heat map and used arrows（箭、箭状物）/'ærәu/ to highlight（突出显示）/'hailait/ the finding. Their report did not prove（证明）/pruːv/ that every courtyard behaved（举止端正、行为规矩）/bi'heiv/ alike（相似的、同样的）/ә'laik/; instead, it explained why each result had to be relevant to（与……相关）/bi ˈrɛləvənt tɪ/ the local design（设计）/dɪˈzaɪn/. The club created a repeatable（可重复的）/rɪˈpitəbəl/ strategy（策略）/ˈstrætəʤi/ that could generate（产生）/'dʒenәreit/ reliable（可靠的）/ri'laiәbl/ data（数据）/ˈdætə/ in future phases（时期、局面）/feiz/ and help other classes compare results in terms of（就……而言）/ɪn tərmz əv/ place, time, and weather.