Lesson 11

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.).

This optional lesson is the second of a sequence of three lessons that can be done any time after the fifth unit of the course.