Averages, VaRiaBiLiTy, and EXTREMES in Weather and Climate
Provided by: Paleontological Research Institution|Published on: June 3, 2022|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Videos
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics
Authors: Paleontological Research Institution
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 →
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
- This video shows how scientists use average temperature measurements and measurements of temperature variability to understand how the climate is shifting.
- Students will see how global temperature distribution can be represented by a bell curve. When temperatures become more variable, the bell curve widens, and when average temperatures increase, the bell curve moves further down the axis.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This interesting video shows students how statistics can help us to understand changes in climate.
- The video uses easy-to-understand graphs to show the temperature data.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with statistics terms such as bell curves, probability, distribution, and spread.
Differentiation
- Math and statistics classes could use this video to show how climate scientists use statistics in real-world applications.
- In small groups, students could discuss the following questions:
- Who will be affected by greater variability in the weather? Why?
- What does a wider bell curve indicate in terms of variability?
- Explain how higher average temperatures and greater temperature variability can both lead to extreme heat?
- Other resources on this topic include this NASA video that shows how land temperature anomaly distributions have changed, this TED video on why 1.5 degrees of global warming is a big deal, and this article on how increasing heat will change life on Earth.
This resource explains the relationship and differences between climate averages, variability, and extremes. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
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.
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