Crickets can be used in a general way to determine the outside temperature. As a cold-blooded animal, the cricket's body temperature fluctuates according to the external temperature. The amount of chirps produced as a result can be used to roughly guess the temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.

This is also known as Dolbear's law.^[1]

Doing the experiement

Head outside and find yourself some chirping crickets. Settle yourself comfortably and get ready to count.

• For Fahrenheit: Count the number of cricket chirps you hear, over a period of 14 seconds. Add the number of chirps counted to the number 40. This will give you the approximate temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.
• For Celsius: Count the number of cricket chirps you hear, over a period of 14 seconds. Add that amount to the number 8. Multiply by 5 and divide by 9. The final result will be an approximate of the temperature in degrees Celsius.
  • Alternatively, for Celsius, listen for 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4.^[2]

The type of cricket listened to may affect the outcome.

Sources and citations

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolbear's_law
• http://lifehacker.com/5817534/how-to-tell-the-temperature-from-a-crickets-chirp

References