Data Puzzle: Weather vs. Climate - Extreme Cold in a Warming World?
Misinterpreting weather events as evidence for or against climate change can lead to misconceptions. Therefore, being able to distinguish between normal weather variability and shifting long-term climate patterns (climate) is crucial to recognizing and addressing climate change. In this Data Puzzle, students explore the difference between weather and climate in the context of an extreme cold event that occurred during a NFL playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins on January 13th, 2024. The air temperature at kickoff was -4°F, making it the fourth coldest NFL game ever played! But what does this cold weather event tell us (if anything) in the context of long-term average temperature patterns in the region? Are winters colder? warmer? or not changing at all?
Context for Use
In this Data Puzzle, students analyze and interpret an average winter temperature dataset to explain how average winter temperatures (climate) in Kansas City, MO has changed over time. Students then explore how average winter temperatures in their own communities (or nearby cities) have changed over time.
Arctic air mass covering a large part of the United States in January of 2024
Goals Header
What Students Will Do
- Analyze and interpret average winter temperature data to evaluate changing winter climate conditions in Kansas City, MO and throughout the United States.
- Construct a written explanation to demonstrate how average winter temperatures in Kansas City are changing (getting warmer) over time.
Teaching Materials
Description
Part 1 – (20 minutes) Eliciting Students’ Ideas
- Access students' prior knowledge by asking students to consider the coldest winter day they've ever experienced, and whether it is always that cold in the winter.
Part 2 – (80 minutes) Identifying Important Science Ideas
- Students engage with an interactive reading to 1) making connections between the opening scenario prompt and the work of Dr. Jen Kay, an atmospheric scientist that studies weather events, like those that caused a cold Arctic air to move south during the January 13th, 2024 NFL playoff game, as well as long-term winter temperature patterns (climate), and 2) make predictions as it relates to the investigative question, "How have average winter temperatures in Kansas City, MO changed over time?"
Part 3 – (40 minutes) Supporting Ongoing Changes in Thinking
- Students test their predictions by analyzing an average winter temperature dataset (1975-2024) from the Kansas City International Airport in Missouri.
Part 4 – (40 minutes) Constructing Evidence-Based Explanations
- Students reflect on evidence gathered during parts 1-3 and construct a journal article to explain the investigative question, "final explanatory model for the question, "How have average winter temperatures in Kansas City, MO changed over time?"
