Positives

• Students will practice their data collection and graphing skills in this lesson.
• This lesson provides thorough background information to deepen teacher and student understanding of the topic.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students must collect temperature data for 2-4 weeks before beginning the graphing, analysis, and discussion portion.
• Students should be familiar with reading thermometers and graphing.
• Teachers will need to print copies of the worksheets for students.
• Students will need thermometers, graph paper, and computers with internet access.

Differentiation

• Earth science classes can use this lesson to introduce weather vs. climate.
• Despite the focus on New York City weather and climate, teachers anywhere in the United States can easily use this lesson by searching their city in the Climate Explorer and National Weather Service databases.
• Older students can work independently or in small groups to collect temperature data.
• Young students or students who struggle to read a thermometer may benefit from using a digital thermometer.