NOTE TO TEACHERS:
These procedures are written to show you how you might use these technologies to teach science concepts. Suggested questions, approaches, and expected answers are all provided. Therefore, these activity descriptions should be used as a guide for your instructional planning, rather than as step-by-step directions for students.

Getting Started

If you were in Melbourne, Australia, today, what clothes would you be wearing? Why?

What do you think the weather is like in Johannesburg, South Africa, today?

What about London, England?

Kyoto, Japan?

As students answer these questions, it may helpful for them to look at the world map available from World Atlas web site (http://www.sitesatlas.com/Atlas/PhysAtlas/physatlas.htm)






Although it's interesting to look at temperatures around the world for any given day, it's even more important to recognize the underlying climatic trends when trying to understand these differences. The abundance of climatic data available on the Internet makes investigating these trends both easier and more relevant to students.

The Research Question

How do temperature patterns differ around the world?

To begin your investigation, look at a world map and select two cities from the northern hemisphere, two cities from the southern hemisphere, and one city along the equator. One of these cities can be the city nearest you.

Now, set up a data table in a spreadsheet (our examples use Microsoft Excel). The first column should list the months of the year. Then make a column for each city.




Procedure 1   |   2  |   3  |   4  |