Thermal science is challenging for students due to its largely imperceptible nature. Handheld infrared
cameras offer a pedagogical opportunity for students to see otherwise invisible thermal phenomena. In the
present study, a class of upper secondary technology students (N ¼ 30) partook in four IR-camera
laboratory activities, designed around the predict-observe-explain approach of White and Gunstone. The
activities involved central thermal concepts that focused on heat conduction and dissipative processes such
as friction and collisions. Students’ interactions within each activity were videotaped and the analysis
focuses on how a purposefully selected group of three students engaged with the exercises. As the basis for
an interpretative study, a “thick” narrative description of the students’ epistemological and conceptual
framing of the exercises and how they took advantage of the disciplinary affordance of IR cameras in the
thermal domain is provided. Findings include that the students largely shared their conceptual framing of
the four activities, but differed among themselves in their epistemological framing, for instance, in how far
they found it relevant to digress from the laboratory instructions when inquiring into thermal phenomena.
In conclusion, the study unveils the disciplinary affordances of infrared cameras, in the sense of their use in
providing access to knowledge about macroscopic thermal science.