Does Living Next to the Ocean Affect a City S Climate

Does Living Next to the Ocean Affect a City’s Climate?

Indiana State Standard 6.3.11 Identify and explain the effects of oceans on climate. Required materials:  Student handout  Student data handout  Calculators for student use  World map (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/)  Large wall size world map (optional)

Introduction In our previous activity (Indiana State Standard 6.3.5) on solar energy it was determined that a city’s latitude determines the amount of incoming solar radiation.

However, this is not the only control of a city’s climate. A city’s proximity to a large body of water also plays a role in the temperature range that a city experiences.

Procedures

Part 1 - Review and assess prior learning. 1. Have the students start with Part one of the worksheet. This can also serve as an

assessment of the prior solar energy activity. Make sure that each student writes their

expected temperature difference as a hypothesis. It should look something like this:

a. I think that Barrow Alaska’s average temperature will be colder than Atlanta

Georgia’s. Mexico City’s average temperature will be the warmest.

2. Confirm that the students have correctly filled in their table of monthly temperatures.

3. Check that the students have correctly calculated the average temperature. 4. If the students have correctly calculated the average temperatures, then have them

write a conclusion. This is good time to emphasize that scientists never prove

anything.

Part 2 - Cities at the same latitude. 1. Hand out part 2 of the worksheet to the students.

2. They are immediately asked to write a hypothesis. It should look something like:

a. I think that two cities at the same latitude will have similar average

temperatures.

3. The students are asked to collect the same monthly temperature data. This time the

cities are Fargo North Dakota and Seattle Washington.

4. Students are again asked to calculate the average temperature. Furthermore, they are

asked to calculate the temperature range.

a. To calculate the range for Fargo, ND Subtract the lowest monthly

temperature (January – 70F) from the Highest Monthly temperature (July –

710F). Thus the result will be 71-7=640F.

5. Students have just made observations that contradict their hypothesis. Some will

likely be confused about what to do next. Make sure that you explain that refuting a

hypothesis is normal in science. Indeed, this is what can make science exciting.

Make sure that you go over the idea that they can still write a conclusion even if their

hypothesis is refuted. An example might look like:

a. My hypothesis was that two cities at the same latitude will have similar

average temperatures; however, when comparing Fargo, ND and Seattle, WA

this does not appear to hold true. Fargo’s average temperature is 410F

whereas Seattle’s average temperature is 510F. Part 3 - Finding an Explanation 1. Hand out part three of the worksheet to the students.

2. Initially we want to get the students thinking about what some of the differences are

between Seattle and Fargo.

a. Seattle is next to the Pacific Ocean. This is referred to as a coastal location.

Fargo is far from an ocean. This is referred to as a continental location.

b. Fargo is at a higher elevation than Seattle. However, the difference in this

case is not enough to matter. However, if we were looking at Denver or

Mexico City it might be important.

c. Are some months more different than others? Which months are similar?

Which months are different?

3. Students are asked to create a hypothesis. This will take some time and discussion in

order for each student to develop a hypothesis. Depending upon the difference they

decide to test for, it will look something like:

a. I think that a coastal city will always have a smaller temperature range than a

continental city when both are at the same latitude.

b. I think that a coastal city will have a have a higher average temperature than a

continental city when both are at the same latitude.

c. I think that a higher elevation city will be colder than a lower elevation city

when both are at the same latitude.

d. I think that continental cities will have colder winters than coastal cities at the

same latitude.

e. There are numerous other possibilities for hypotheses. Students should be

encouraged to be creative. 4. Students are asked to locate three situations where they can test their hypothesis.

This will take some time as they locate the places from the data sheet handout on

their world map. It would be helpful to have extra world maps for this part. A large

wall size world map is also quite handy.

5. Once students have located three situations where they can test their hypothesis, they

will need to collect the proper data. Three tables have been provided for this. The

final column has been left empty for them to record the appropriate information

depending upon their hypothesis.

a. For example, if a student was using the above hypothesis 3a then they would

record the temperature range in the final column.

6. Once students have recorded the appropriate data, they should tabulate their results

and write a conclusion.

Closure and Assessment Have students hold a poster presentation presenting the results of their study. The following are guidelines for preparing the poster.

 Between 3 to 4 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide.  The poster should tell the reader WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW. SO WHAT and NOW WHAT might also be included at the end.  Use large fonts for the title and headings. Use complementary colors, not fluorescent pink or neon green. Student Handout

Part 1 In the previous solar energy lab you determined that higher latitudes receive less

energy. This was due to the angle that the Sun’s rays strike the Earth. With this knowledge,

how would you expect the average temperatures to be different? Make sure that you state

which city is the coldest and which is the warmest.

Location Latitude Expected temperature differences Barrow, Alaska 710 I think that... Fargo, North Dakota 470 Atlanta, Georgia 33.50

Did you notice that you just wrote a hypothesis?

As scientists, we are observers of nature. Let us take a look at a few observations and

see if we can support our hypothesis. In the following table, write the monthly temperatures

(F) for each of the three cities. You will need to look up each month’s temperature using the

handout provided by your teacher.

Location Lat Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Barrow 71 Fargo 47 Atlanta 33.5

Does the table above answer our question? It is often much easier to compare two cities using their average temperature. To calculate this we want to add up the temperatures for each month and divide by twelve.

Write your answer in the following table.

Location Latitude Average Temperature Barrow, Alaska 710 Fargo, North Dakota 470 Atlanta, Georgia 33.50

Do these observations support your hypothesis?

Based on your answer, write a conclusion in the following box.

Conclusion: Part 2 In part one, we supported out hypothesis that higher latitudes are colder. Using this

same idea, what would we expect to see with two cities at the same latitude? Write your

hypothesis in the box below.

Hypothesis: I think that two cities at the same latitude will…

Let us start by using the same method as in part 1.

Location Lat Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Fargo, ND 47 Seattle, WA 47.5

We also need to calculate the average. Let us also calculate the temperature range.

This is the lowest monthly temperature subtracted from the highest monthly temperature.

Location Latitude Average Temperature Temperature Range Fargo, ND 47 Seattle, WA 47.5

Does everything look right? Double check your results. Do the two cities have the same average temperature? Does this support your hypothesis? Write a conclusion in the box below.

Conclusion:

My hypothesis was that two cities at the same latitude…

However, my observations…. Part 3 In part 2 we found that our hypothesis of two cities at the same latitude having the same average temperature was incorrect. Let us see if we can figure out why.

Grab your world map and locate Seattle and Fargo. You can do this using the latitude and longitude numbers from your data sheet handout. What difference do you see?

Look back through the data sheet handout. Do you see any other differences?

Which months have the greatest difference? Which months are very similar?

Which location is the hottest? Which location is the coldest?

Does one of these differences look like it might explain why Fargo and Seattle have different average temperatures?

Let us see if we can write another hypothesis to explain our observations.

Hypothesis: I think that… Now that we have our hypothesis, let us figure out how to test it. Using the data sheet handout and a world map, locate three situations where you could test your hypothesis.

Write your locations in the tables below.

Test 1 Location Latitude Longitude Elevation Coastal/Continental

Now let us collect the data we need to answer our question. Use the tables below to record your data. Notice that an extra column at the end has been left empty for recording the necessary information from your hypothesis. Test 1 Location Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Test 2 Location Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Test 3 Location Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Did the results from test 1 support or refute your hypothesis?

Did all of your tests support your hypothesis?

What conclusions can you draw from this?