This interactive resource allows students to see the temperature change for many American cities since 1970 and how they compare to that state and to the United States.
Each city on the drop-down menu creates a downloadable graph image with the temperature change information.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This resource delivers an easy-to-digest chart that makes the temperature changes across America engaging and understandable for students at many levels.
The downloadable chart is available in English and Spanish, and in several image formats.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be able to read a bar graph.
Differentiation
Cross-curricular connections can be made in math classes working with graphs or social studies classes working on geography and climate impacts.
This resource would lend itself well to an activity where each student downloads a chart and reviews it, then students walk around with their charts and compare and contrast the data between their charts and their classmates'. Afterwards, have students reflect on what they gleaned from these comparisons.
As an extension, have students use the charts to create a handout that explains the impacts of rising temperatures to distribute within the school community.
Scientist Notes
The resource underlines variability of temperature and compares the changes across US cities from 1970. The datasets and source are accurate and credible, thus, the resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
Common Core Math Standards (CCSS.MATH)
Functions: Interpreting Functions (9-12)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSF.IF.B.6 Calculate and interpret the average rate of change of a function (presented symbolically or as a table) over a specified interval. Estimate the rate of change from a graph.
