SUMMARY
Selected for the CLEAN Collection. Activity will take about two hours depending on the familiarity with Excel.
In this intermediate Excel activity, students import US Historical Climate Network mean temperature data into Excel from a station of their choice. They are then guided through the activity on how to use Excel for statistical calculations, graphing, and linear trend estimates. The activity assumes some familiarity with Excel and graphing in Excel.
GOALS
Following suggestions are by CLEAN reviewers:
-
Educator has to be careful to not allow students to draw too broad of conclusions from one station. For example, a given station may indicate a cooling trend even though the globe as a whole is warming.
-
Students unfamiliar with Excel should complete an introductory Excel activity (see resources listed in activity) before working through this activity.
-
Students should be able to work through this activity at home or in a computer lab with no supervision.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION AND TEACHING MATERIALS
TEACHING NOTES / CONTEXT FOR USE
CLEAN reviewers comments about this resource:
About the Science
-
Students work with real data for their home region.
-
Data used in the activity is only available until 1994, which is acceptable given the activity is about historic data, but certainly not ideal. More recent data is available on the USHCN Website so the educator can update the activity.
About the Pedagogy
-
Activity is primarily a mathematical skill builder, using data from a scientific database.
-
Questions posed in the instructions at various points in the activity help keep students on track and help them to abstract from the presented data and see the reason for the statistical analysis.
-
Activity relies heavily on Excel knowledge and skills - could be a disadvantage for some less tech-savy students.
Technical Details/Ease of Use
-
Very extensive Excel instructions and good links for further reading/help.
-
Getting current data from the interface is fast and responsive for getting data plots.
-
All required materials are downloadable from site.
RESOURCES
Activity and Starting Point page by R.M. MacKay. Clark College, Physics and Meteorology.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment is at the discretion of the educator and how this video is applied.
Are you absolutely sure you want to delete this resource? This process cannot be undone and is permanent.
Yes, Delete This Resource
Are you absolutely sure you want to remove this resource? This process cannot be undone and is permanent.
Yes, Remove This Resource
SUMMARY
Selected for the CLEAN Collection. Activity will take about two hours depending on the familiarity with Excel.
In this intermediate Excel activity, students import US Historical Climate Network mean temperature data into Excel from a station of their choice. They are then guided through the activity on how to use Excel for statistical calculations, graphing, and linear trend estimates. The activity assumes some familiarity with Excel and graphing in Excel.
GOALS
Following suggestions are by CLEAN reviewers:
-
Educator has to be careful to not allow students to draw too broad of conclusions from one station. For example, a given station may indicate a cooling trend even though the globe as a whole is warming.
-
Students unfamiliar with Excel should complete an introductory Excel activity (see resources listed in activity) before working through this activity.
-
Students should be able to work through this activity at home or in a computer lab with no supervision.
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION AND TEACHING MATERIALS
TEACHING NOTES / CONTEXT FOR USE
CLEAN reviewers comments about this resource:
About the Science
-
Students work with real data for their home region.
-
Data used in the activity is only available until 1994, which is acceptable given the activity is about historic data, but certainly not ideal. More recent data is available on the USHCN Website so the educator can update the activity.
About the Pedagogy
-
Activity is primarily a mathematical skill builder, using data from a scientific database.
-
Questions posed in the instructions at various points in the activity help keep students on track and help them to abstract from the presented data and see the reason for the statistical analysis.
-
Activity relies heavily on Excel knowledge and skills - could be a disadvantage for some less tech-savy students.
Technical Details/Ease of Use
-
Very extensive Excel instructions and good links for further reading/help.
-
Getting current data from the interface is fast and responsive for getting data plots.
-
All required materials are downloadable from site.
RESOURCES
Activity and Starting Point page by R.M. MacKay. Clark College, Physics and Meteorology.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment is at the discretion of the educator and how this video is applied.
Are you absolutely sure you want to delete this resource? This process cannot be undone and is permanent.
Yes, Delete This Resource
Are you absolutely sure you want to remove this resource? This process cannot be undone and is permanent.
Yes, Remove This Resource
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