What’s Up with the Weather?

A Data Analysis Project2005-2006

Math and Science join hands

Standards and Objectives

Standards: • Students pose questions

and collect, organize, and represent data to answer those questions

• Students interpret data using methods of exploratory data analysis

Benchmarks:• Organize collections of data• Create and use various

representations of data• Analyze and interpret

relationships between variables (e.g. scatterplots)

Objective: Students will graph and compare different aspects of the weather to discover trends and/or relationships within the data provided by the weather station.

Standards Part 2 (HCPS III)

• Benchmark SC.ES.1.5 Communicate the components of a scientific investigation, using appropriate techniques

• Benchmark SC.ES.2.4 Describe technologies used to collect information about the universe

• Benchmark SC.ES.8.7 Describe climate and weather patterns associated with certain geographic locations and features

KMS Weather Station

The KMS weather station is mounted on J-building. It has been recording daily weather data since September 2003.

The data includes • high, low, and mean

temperatures• times of highs and

lows• amount of rainfall• wind speed• wind direction

Weather Data

• Data collected by the weather station can be found on Mr. B’s website

Step 1: Input the Data

1. Download the data – it is already in Excel.2. Select the time span you want to analyze.3. Choose the data you are going to analyze

and delete the other data columns.

  A B C D

1 January 2005      

2 Day Mean Temp High Temp Low Temp

3 1 22.9 24.8 20.3

4 2 21.9 25.6 19.8

5 3 22.2 23.8 20.6

6 4 22.2 26 20.1

7 5 21.4 24.3 19.3

What to Graph• Group A Sept 10-03-Mar 31-04 Temp-H/L/mean• Group B April 01-04-Aug31-04 Temp-H/L/mean• Group C Sept 01-04-Mar 31-05 Temp-H/L/mean• Group D April 01-05-Aug 31-05 Temp-H/L/mean• Group E Sept 01-05-Dec 31-05 Temp-H/L/mean• Group F Sept 10-03-Dec 31-05 Temperature• Group G Sept 10-03-Dec 31-05 Rain-Avg Wind

• To make a second graph – choose a different measurement (Rain – Wind)

Step 2: Graph the Data

• Highlight the information you want to graph.• Select “Insert”, “Chart”, “New Worksheet”.• Select the type of graph you want to make. (X-Y

Scatter is the recommended)• Click “Next”

  A B C D

1 January 2005      

2 Day Mean Temp High Temp Low Temp

3 1 22.9 24.8 20.3

4 2 21.9 25.6 19.8  

5 3 22.2 23.8 20.6  

6 4 22.2 26 20.1  

7 5 21.4 24.3 19.3  

Step 3: Label the Graph

Title

Describes the graph:

WHAT?WHEN?WHERE?

Axes Labels

Describes the type of data AND the units of measure.

Remember: X-axis: horizontal

Y-axis: vertical

KMS Daily Temperature January 2005

15

17

19

21

23

25

27

1 2 3 4 5

Day of the Month

Tem

per

atu

re (

Cel

ciu

s)

Mean Temp High Temp Low Temp

Title describes What? When?

Where?

Axes labels tell what kind of data AND units of measure

Step 4: Format the Graph

• To format your graph, double click on the item you want to change (lines, background, title font/size, etc).

• Guidelines:– Titles, labels, and lines should be clear and

easy to read.– Select colors and patterns that will make the

data stand out.– Be sure that your design isn’t too distracting.

Remember that the DATA is what’s important.

KMS Dail y Temper atur e J anuar y 2005

15

17

19

21

23

25

27

1 2 3 4 5

Day of the Month

Tem

peratu

re (C

elc

ius)

Mean Temp High Temp Low Temp

Titles and labels easy to read

Data stands

out

Design is not overly distracting

Step 5: Analyze the GraphKMS Dail y Temper atur e J anuar y 2005

15

17

19

21

23

25

27

1 2 3 4 5

Day of the Month

Tem

peratu

re (C

elc

ius)

Mean Temp High Temp Low Temp

1. Look for patterns, trends, or relationships you see in the lines.

2. What does this mean about the weather/ temperature?

Ex. 1: On January 3, 2005, the three lines are relatively close together. This means the temperature was fairly stable throughout the day. It didn’t get really hot nor really cold.

Ex. 3: The mean temperature line is flat. This means that the average temperature in the first five days of January was about the same each day.

Ex. 2: The high temperature line goes up and down. This means that on some days, the temperature got hot during at least one point in the day. On other days, it didn’t get as hot.

Step 6: Summarize your findings

1. Write a conclusion in paragraph form. Briefly restate what you found in your analysis.

2. Answer this question: Do you think the patterns you found will continue through 2006? Why or why not?

Grading Rubric

• Write Up

• Data Analysis – Graphing

• Beauty