Graphing Global Temperature Trends
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Provided by: My NASA Data|Published on: May 24, 2024
Activity - ClassroomScientist Reviewed
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Scientist Reviewed This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this activity, students determine if the global temperature is increasing by graphing and analyzing global temperature data.
- This activity has one version designed for fifth grade with graphing done by hand and one for eighth grade and high school students with graphing in Google Sheets or Excel.
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics
Authors: My NASA Data
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This activity is a powerful way for students to visualize evidence of global warming.
- The educator guide provides helpful background information, detailed step-by-step instructions, discussion questions, assessment ideas, and optional extension resources.
Additional Prerequisites
- The data is provided as text or CSV files, which some devices, such as Chromebooks, may be unable to open. Teachers can convert these files into Google Sheets or Excel for easier distribution.
- Students should be comfortable graphing and understand the difference between weather and climate.
- The fifth-grade version requires a printed worksheet or graphing paper and tape, and the high-school version requires individual student devices.
- Fifth-grade teachers should use the graphing worksheet when possible to make it easy to connect each group's graphs into one cohesive graph.
Differentiation
- The two versions of the lesson demonstrate how to differentiate this activity for different grade levels.
- Teachers can use this activity in math courses when learning about graphing, analyzing trends in data, and using data to make predictions.
- In science courses, this would be a great activity to use as a hook for a unit on climate change.
This classroom activity engages students with plotting global temperature data and understanding trends. The provided instructions are clear. Terms are defined expertly, most notably weather, climate, global warming, and climate change. Supported by three concise and helpful NASA Earth Minute videos, this resource’s greatest asset is that it engages students with real-time climate data. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
My NASA Data
NASA offers petabytes of global Earth science data collected from satellites, but accessing these data in a traditional (or virtual) science classroom can be tricky. Since 2004, My NASA Data has supported students and teachers of grades 3-12 in analyzing and interpreting NASA mission data.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
