9th Grade

Graphing-Weather Station Activity

Have the weather station record temperature for 3-4 hours starting in the morning (4 hours is preferred to make the math easier). Have students plot temperature vs time. Pick a good time interval (perhaps every 15 or 30 minutes). Students can then approximate the temperature change by plotting the best fit line or simply using the initial and final temperatures. The data can be used to practice calculating slope. The students can see a real-world example of a function and slope representing the average change in temperature for the time. The same activity could be done with pressure when a storm is approaching.