ANALYZING CORRELATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS

AND RENEWABLE SOLUTIONS

LAURA ROBERTS

RET PARTICIPANT SUMMER 2015

8TH GRADE MATH-ADAPTABLE TO ALGEBRA AND ALGEBRA 2

OBJECTIVES

bull Students will be able to identify current trends in carbon emissions and their global implications

bull Students will analyze trends in data related to climate changeengineering trends

bull Students will be able to explain the importance of lowering emissionsinvesting in engineering

bull Students will collect data to build scatter plots modeling solar power

bull Students will analyze impacts of climate change on specific populations

MATH STANDARDS ADDRESSED (8TH GRADE)bull F4 Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities Determine the rate of change and initial value of the

function from a description of a relationship or from two (x y) values including reading these from a table or from a graph Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models and in terms of its graph or a table of values

bull SP1 Construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two quantities Describe patterns such as clustering outliers positive or negative association linear association and nonlinear association

bull SP2 Know that straight lines are widely used to model relationships between two quantitative variables For scatter plots that suggest a linear association informally fit a straight line and informally assess the model fit by judging the closeness of the data points to the line

bull SP3 Use the equation of a linear model to solve problems in the context of bivariate measurement data interpreting the slope and intercept For example in a linear model for a biology experiment interpret a slope of 15 cmhr as meaning that an additional hour of sunlight each day is associated with an additional 15 cm in mature plant height

bull SP4 Understand that patterns of association can also be seen in bivariate categorical data by displaying frequencies and relative frequencies in a two-way table Construct and interpret a two-way table summarizing data on two categorical variables collected from the same subjects Use relative frequencies calculated for rows or columns to describe possible association between the two variables For example collect data from students in your class on whether or not they have a curfew on school nights and whether or not they have assigned chores at home Is there evidence that those who have a curfew also tend to have chores

LESSON 1 lsquoDO THE MATHrsquobull Essential Questions

bull What do positive and negative correlations look like

bull What makes a correlation stronger or weaker

bull How do correlations help us understand data

bull Introduction (Check for prior knowledge)

bull 9 of the top ten global concerns

bull Water Food Environment Poverty Terrorism amp War Disease Education Democracy and Population

bull Informal Discussion How does energy help us solve these problems

bull Hook What is the top global concern

bull ENERGY

bull Why is energy a global concern Why are 2 565 2785 important numbers

bull Show clips from ldquoDo the Mathrdquo First 2degC and 565 (565 billion gigatons of carbon is the max we have agreed to let into the atmosphere) httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=KuCGVwJIRd0

OBJECTIVES

bull Students will be able to identify current trends in carbon emissions and their global implications

bull Students will analyze trends in data related to climate changeengineering trends

bull Students will be able to explain the importance of lowering emissionsinvesting in engineering

bull Students will collect data to build scatter plots modeling solar power

bull Students will analyze impacts of climate change on specific populations

MATH STANDARDS ADDRESSED (8TH GRADE)bull F4 Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities Determine the rate of change and initial value of the

function from a description of a relationship or from two (x y) values including reading these from a table or from a graph Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models and in terms of its graph or a table of values

bull SP1 Construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two quantities Describe patterns such as clustering outliers positive or negative association linear association and nonlinear association

bull SP2 Know that straight lines are widely used to model relationships between two quantitative variables For scatter plots that suggest a linear association informally fit a straight line and informally assess the model fit by judging the closeness of the data points to the line

bull SP3 Use the equation of a linear model to solve problems in the context of bivariate measurement data interpreting the slope and intercept For example in a linear model for a biology experiment interpret a slope of 15 cmhr as meaning that an additional hour of sunlight each day is associated with an additional 15 cm in mature plant height

bull SP4 Understand that patterns of association can also be seen in bivariate categorical data by displaying frequencies and relative frequencies in a two-way table Construct and interpret a two-way table summarizing data on two categorical variables collected from the same subjects Use relative frequencies calculated for rows or columns to describe possible association between the two variables For example collect data from students in your class on whether or not they have a curfew on school nights and whether or not they have assigned chores at home Is there evidence that those who have a curfew also tend to have chores

LESSON 1 lsquoDO THE MATHrsquobull Essential Questions

bull What do positive and negative correlations look like

bull What makes a correlation stronger or weaker

bull How do correlations help us understand data

bull Introduction (Check for prior knowledge)

bull 9 of the top ten global concerns

bull Water Food Environment Poverty Terrorism amp War Disease Education Democracy and Population

bull Informal Discussion How does energy help us solve these problems

bull Hook What is the top global concern

bull ENERGY

bull Why is energy a global concern Why are 2 565 2785 important numbers

bull Show clips from ldquoDo the Mathrdquo First 2degC and 565 (565 billion gigatons of carbon is the max we have agreed to let into the atmosphere) httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=KuCGVwJIRd0

MATH STANDARDS ADDRESSED (8TH GRADE)bull F4 Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities Determine the rate of change and initial value of the

function from a description of a relationship or from two (x y) values including reading these from a table or from a graph Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models and in terms of its graph or a table of values

bull SP1 Construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two quantities Describe patterns such as clustering outliers positive or negative association linear association and nonlinear association

bull SP2 Know that straight lines are widely used to model relationships between two quantitative variables For scatter plots that suggest a linear association informally fit a straight line and informally assess the model fit by judging the closeness of the data points to the line

bull SP3 Use the equation of a linear model to solve problems in the context of bivariate measurement data interpreting the slope and intercept For example in a linear model for a biology experiment interpret a slope of 15 cmhr as meaning that an additional hour of sunlight each day is associated with an additional 15 cm in mature plant height

bull SP4 Understand that patterns of association can also be seen in bivariate categorical data by displaying frequencies and relative frequencies in a two-way table Construct and interpret a two-way table summarizing data on two categorical variables collected from the same subjects Use relative frequencies calculated for rows or columns to describe possible association between the two variables For example collect data from students in your class on whether or not they have a curfew on school nights and whether or not they have assigned chores at home Is there evidence that those who have a curfew also tend to have chores

LESSON 1 lsquoDO THE MATHrsquobull Essential Questions

bull What do positive and negative correlations look like

bull What makes a correlation stronger or weaker

bull How do correlations help us understand data

bull Introduction (Check for prior knowledge)

bull 9 of the top ten global concerns

bull Water Food Environment Poverty Terrorism amp War Disease Education Democracy and Population

bull Informal Discussion How does energy help us solve these problems

bull Hook What is the top global concern

bull ENERGY

bull Why is energy a global concern Why are 2 565 2785 important numbers

bull Show clips from ldquoDo the Mathrdquo First 2degC and 565 (565 billion gigatons of carbon is the max we have agreed to let into the atmosphere) httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=KuCGVwJIRd0

LESSON 1 lsquoDO THE MATHrsquobull Essential Questions

bull What do positive and negative correlations look like

bull What makes a correlation stronger or weaker

bull How do correlations help us understand data

bull Introduction (Check for prior knowledge)

bull 9 of the top ten global concerns

bull Water Food Environment Poverty Terrorism amp War Disease Education Democracy and Population

bull Informal Discussion How does energy help us solve these problems

bull Hook What is the top global concern

bull ENERGY

bull Why is energy a global concern Why are 2 565 2785 important numbers

bull Show clips from ldquoDo the Mathrdquo First 2degC and 565 (565 billion gigatons of carbon is the max we have agreed to let into the atmosphere) httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=KuCGVwJIRd0

LESSON 1 CONTINUED

bull Re-visit objective (scatter plotcorrelation)

bull How much carbon have we already released into the atmosphere Do you think we are close to 565

bull Data for carbon ppm in atmosphere ftpaftpcmdlnoaagovproductstrendsco2co2_annmean_mlotxt

bull Create scatterplot

bull Why donrsquot the points make a straight line

bull Which direction are they going

bull Direct Instruction regarding correlation

bull Show clip (finishing 565 final number 2785)

LESSON 1 CONCLUSION

bull Informal discussion of final number (2795 billion tons of carbon is what is currently in reserves)

bull Homework Create scatter plotsdetermine correlation for major effects of climate change (temperature arctic ice and rising sea levels)

bull Source wwwclimatenasagov

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE

wwwclimatenasagovhttpdatagissnasagovgistemptabledata_v3GLBTs+dSSTtxt

ARCTIC ICE EXTENT

httpnsidcorgarcticseaicenewshttpnsidcorgdatamasie

SEA LEVEL CHANGE

httpclimatenasagovvital-signssea-levelhttpclimatenasagovsysteminternal_resourcesdetailsoriginal121_Global_Sea_Level_Data_Filetxt

LESSON 2 TREND LINES

bull Objectives

bull Students will create trend lines to interpret data

bull Introduction Discussion of Trends Which had positivewhich had negative What do the graphs look like

bull Teacher picks one graphhellipeg rising sea levels what do you think the change will be in 2019 How did you get your answer Why do we want to predict future numbers

bull Quickly introduce objectivedraw trend line

bull What does this line show How does it help us

bull What do you think could be some implications of rising sea levels

bull Hook Video

bull httptheislandpresidentcomwp-video-lightbox[iframes]0

LESSON 2 CONTINUED

bull More detailed direct instruction regarding trend lines

bull Create trend line for Maldives sea level rises

bull Students complete trend lines for scatter plots they did for homework

bull Homework Students analyze data sets for different populationssee different effects of climate change Include news headlines related to each

bull Tanzania TempsCoffee Production

bull Southern Africa TempsMaize Production (soil moisture)

bull New York (Northeast Temp IncreasePrecipitation Increase)

bull Respond to quote- What are some possible solutions to the climate change problem

bull Creativity is not just for artistshellipits for engineers trying to solve a problem its for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way - Twyla Tharp

bull httpwwwbrainyquotecomquoteskeywordsengineershtmlbwwyXSbVuAqIWBUA99

Mӧrner Nils-Axel ldquoThe Maldives A Measure of Sea Leval Changes and Sea Level Ethicsrdquo Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics Rӧsundavӓgen 17 13336 Saltsjobaden Sweden httpwwwgooglecomurlsa=tamprct=jampq=ampesrc=sampsource=webampcd=3ampved=0CC8QFjACampurl=http3A2F2Fmywebwwuedu2Fdbunny2Fpdfs2FCh7Elsevierpdfampei=5QWIVYjiK8WoyATGyLzACQampusg=AFQjCNF69gdW4uqnTlv3QOvXaNdWCmiXOAampsig2=CbwIuZiWVUahTJoMeiyXbw

TANZANIA

Arabica Production Trends

Mean Temperature

httpwwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepiiS0168192315000830

NEW YORKMean TemperatureMean Precipitation

New York City Panel on Climate Change 2013 ldquoClimate Risk Information 2013 Observations Climate Change Projections and Mapsrdquo CRosenzweig and W Solecki (Editors) NPCC2 Prepared for use by the City of New York Special Initiative on Rebuilding and Resiliancy New York New York httpwwwnycgovhtmlplanyc2030downloadspdfnpcc_climate_risk_information_2013_reportpdf

NEW YORKMean TemperatureMean Precipitation

New York City Panel on Climate Change 2013 ldquoClimate Risk Information 2013 Observations Climate Change Projections and Mapsrdquo CRosenzweig and W Solecki (Editors) NPCC2 Prepared for use by the City of New York Special Initiative on Rebuilding and Resiliancy New York New York httpwwwnycgovhtmlplanyc2030downloadspdfnpcc_climate_risk_information_2013_reportpdf

SOUTH AFRICA

Jury Mark R ldquoAn Inter-comparison of Model-simulated East-west Climate Gradients over South Africardquo ldquoWater SArdquovol38 n4 Pretoria Jan 2012 University of Zululand KwaDlangezwa 3886 South Africa Physics Department University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez PR USA 00681 httpwwwscieloorgzascielophppid=S1816-79502012000400001ampscript=sci_arttextHudson DA and RG Jones 2002 Regional climate model simulations of present day and future climates of Southern Africa Technical note 39 Bracknell UK Hadley Centre httpnecsieduresearchsocialsouthafrica

LESSON 2 HOMEWORK POTENTIAL HIGHER ORDER THINKING QUESTIONS

bull How does this data affect the populations of the respective countries How do you think they are responding to the data

bull Who should be the most concerned out of all the populations Least concerned Why

bull Do you think we are affected by the trends in different citiescountries Explain your reasoning

bull Provide quotes showing how data can be debated

bull Eg ldquoWhile politicians and environmental advocates routinely attribute natural disasters with human-caused climate change the uncomfortable reality is that such attribution remains speculative There is not yet a scientific basis for making such a connection That is not an argument against taking action but it is an argument for accurately representing the science rdquo ndashRoger Pielke Jr bull httpwwwnewrepubliccomarticle116887does-climate-change-cause-extreme-weather-i-said-no-and-was-attacked

LESSON 3 HANDS ON SOLARbull Objectives

bull Students will collect and analyze data modeling solar power throughout a simulated day

bull Students will attempt to maximize power output of solar panel and document their datadetermine their effectiveness

bull Hook Informal Discussion regarding quote then video

bull httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv=6lpw8uc2vao

bull Materials Needed

bull Lamp

bull Solar Panel

bull Multi-Meter

bull Chair (or something that provides a moveable fixed height)

bull Alligator Clips

bull Tape

bull Tape Measurer

LESSON 3 CONTINUED

bull Potential group assignments

bull Team Leader

bull Recorder

bull Multi-meter Manager

bull Chair Coordinator

bull Students will measure and mark tape according to certain hours of the day (8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4)

bull Alligator clips connect solar panel to multi-meter Solar panel stays in fixed place (1200)

bull Chair is moved along designated times stopping at each marked spot on tape to record data

bull Data should model quadratic function

LESSON 3 CONCLUSIONbull Once students determine their correlation is not linear they must work as a team on the following task

bull You cannot lift the solar panel completely off the ground or move it outside itrsquos designated box How can we maximize the solar energy Experiment

bull Sample Data Sets 1st is leaving solar panel flat second is adjusting angle

ldquoTimerdquo 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4

Voltage 848 926 1024 1357 1549 139 111 93 837

ldquoTimerdquo 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4Voltage 879 95 109 139 156 14 115 96 89

Follow-up Questionsbull Which hours would you expect to see the most difference in voltage Why Of your data which hours saw the

most difference in voltage bull Could this data ever represent a perfect line Why or why notbull Do you think solar panelsrsquo angles change throughout the day What would the advantage be Disadvantage

Exit Slip Will the total amount of voltage collected throughout the day have a correlation If so will it be weak or strong Is it possible for this to be a perfect line Provide explanations for all your answers

Homework Graph scatterplot comparing time and total voltage Analyze trend and correlation

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTbull Keeping it relevant Students will analyze trends in engineering by plotting data assessing

correlation and drawing trend lines

bull Introduce with quote

bull ldquoI hope climate science becomes the big thing And then what I want is electrical engineers to solve the worlds energy problems energy distribution problems I want mechanical engineers to make better transportation systems I want chemical engineers to develop better solar panels and so onrdquo-Bill Nye

bull Analyze the following trends

bull Trends in engineering degrees (electrical mechanical chemical)

bull Women in as a percentage of workers in science and engineering careers (specifically engineers)

bull Graduate enrollment in engineering by citizenshiprace and ethnicity

TRENDS IN BACHELORS DEGREES

httpwwwnsfgovnsbseiedTooldataengineering-01html

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

httpwwwnsfgovnsbseiedTooldataworkforce-07html

GRADUATE ENROLLMENT BY CITIZENSHIP RACEETHNICITYhttpwwwnsfgovstatisticsseind04c2fig02-06htm

POTENTIAL PROJECT BASED LEARNING OR CO-CURRICULAR APPLICATIONS

bull Debate importance of renewable energy (address the fact that climate change is in fact a debate a current weakness of these lesson plans)

bull Analyze more biodiversity data to coincide closer with science standards

bull Students choose diminishing species (plant or animal) and create a research project

bull Have students come up with ideas to conserve energyreduce waste They can collect the data and determine their success (eg negative correlation for timeweight of trash-steeper slope is better)

bull Connect to political events (ex Oil pipeline)

bull Write a persuasive letter or create a video taking a side and providing evidence to back up your argument

bull Convince high school students to enter engineering

bull Either with persuasive letter or real-world audience

bull As students or taking the role of populations introduced with trend lines

• Analyzing correlations Climate change impacts and renewable so
• Objectives
• Math Standards addressed (8th grade)
• Lesson 1 lsquodo the mathrsquo
• Lesson 1 Continued
• Lesson 1 Conclusion
• Global temperature
• Arctic ice extent
• Sea Level Change
• Lesson 2 Trend lines
• Lesson 2 Continued
• tanzania
• New york
• South africa
• Lesson 2 homework potential Higher order thinking questions
• Lesson 3 hands on solar
• Lesson 3 continued
• Lesson 3 conclusion
• Formative Assessment
• Trends in bachelors degrees
• women in engineering
• Graduate enrollment by citizenship raceethnicity
• Potential project based learning or co-curricular applications