Lesson 5

Plotting the Weather

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Lesson Narrative

In this second in a sequence of three lessons, students construct a mathematical model to investigate if there is an association between latitude and temperature.

  • They make a scatter plot of latitude and average high temperature in September for cities across North America.
  • They then use dried linguine pasta to find (that is, eyeball) a line that best approximates the data.
  • They find an equation of the line. The data is given as part of the activities in the lesson plan. If appropriate, students could also collect their own data and use a different measure for temperature (for example, average yearly temperature, average September temperature, etc.).

Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Create a mathematical model of bivariate data using a scatter plot.
  • Describe (in writing) associations in bivariate data shown in a table or scatter plot.

Student Facing

Let’s construct a model.

Required Materials

CCSS Standards

Addressing

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