Problem Description Sheet:       Opinions About the Weather             

Introduction: How has the weather been in your town this year? Was it a colder winter than usual? Was the summer hotter than usual? Did it snow or rain a lot?

Problem:

  1. Think about what the weather has been like this past year in your town. Write a paragraph or two to describe your thoughts.
     

  2. Make a questionnaire to gather data about what other people think about the weather in your town. You might use some of the questions in the Introduction. Make up some other questions to ask them. Ask them to predict next year’s weather.
     
  3. Organize the data you collect and make at least three graphs that show what people think about the weather in your town.
     
  4. Did everybody have the same opinions about the weather? Did many of them disagree with how you described the weather? Why do you think some people had different opinions?
     
  5. What predictions can you make about next year’s weather for your town? Explain how and why you chose your predictions.
     
  6. Make some predictions for next year’s weather for Calgary and for Vancouver. Compare how these predictions are different than the predictions you made for your town. Which predictions are you most sure about? Explain why this is the case.

Materials: pencil, paper, graph paper, calculator

Topic(s):

Numbers and operations, data management (D-1b, 8c, 10b), critical and creative thinking, communication   

Activity Type:

  Group  Individual 

Assessment:

  Scale:      Levels 1-5        

  Self  Peer  Teacher 

  Include in your portfolio?
  Yes  No  Optional 

  Toward your marks?
  Yes  No  Optional 

       

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