Candidate Name:
Candidate Number:
Internal Assessement: Calculating Average Global Temperatures
Focus Areas: DCP and DEC
Background
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “To calculate a
global average temperature, scientists begin with temperature measurements taken at locations
around the globe. Because their goal is to track changes in temperature, measurements are
converted from direct temperature readings to temperature anomalies-values (ex: standard
deviation) that represent the difference between the observed temperature and the long-term
average temperature for each location and date. Across inaccessible areas that have few
measurements, scientists use surrounding temperatures and other information to fill in the
missing values. Each value is then used to calculate a global temperature average”
Procedures:
1. Choose three cities located on three different latitudes.
2. Choose 1 city with population under 500,000 and 1 City above 3 million, and 1 city of
your choice under 500,000 or one above 3 million.
3. No two students may use the same city. This is not a group assignment.
4. Using theweatherchannel.com track and record the daily temperatures for 3 weeks.
Weeks may be consecutive or not: You must include this information in your discussion.
5. Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius as necessary
Data Collection and Processing:
6. Use example table 1 and table 2 to collect and record the following data
7. Process relevant data. Examples given in tables 3 and 4. DO NOT Limit yourself to the
data samples given. You are expected to provide two data comparisons other than
samples provided.
Discussion, Evaluation and Conclusion: (paraphrased from the ESS IB Guide)
8. Discussion: review and analyze your results in the context of relevant and accepted
scientific theories. Identify trends, patterns and anomalies that either agree or disagree
with established theories.
9. Evaluation of procedures and suggesting improvement: a constructive reflection of the
strengths, weakness and limitation of the investigation. Suggest realistic improvements,
consider the following: procedures, limitations of equipment, equipment use,
management of time, data accuracy, and data relevance.
10. Conclusion: concise and clear based on the evidence of your data.
Data Collection Examples
City: Portland, Oregon
15°
*All temperatures rounded
to nearest whole number
5/13/14
5/14/14
5/15/14
5/16/14
5/17/14
Average
Daily
Temp
Standard
Deviation
Differenc
e month
average
vs. day
average
Differenc
e low
monthly
vs low
day
Differenc
e high
monthly
vs high
day
Average
9°
Low
20° C
Population: 583,776
High
Average
temp
Average
Low
Average
m
high
Month
May
Latitude: 45.5 N
Date
29
32
30
24
18
27
13
15
12
11
10
12
21
24
21
18
14
19
5.6
1.9
3.7
9
12
10
4
8
4
6
3
2
1
6
9
6
3
1
9
3
5
2.9
1.9
3.0
Example Table 1
City: Portland, Oregon
Latitude: 45.5 N
Population: 583,776
Normal temperature fluctuation
Normal temperature fluctuation
Normal temperature fluctuations
for Monthly High for week of
for Monthly Low
for average
5/13- 5/17
for week of 5/13- 5/17
for week of 5/13- 5/17
21˚ to 33˚
10˚ to 14˚
15˚ to 23˚
Example Table 2
Processed Data Examples
Table 3
Current Daily Temperatures Vs. Monthly High/Low Tempertures for May
Temperature
20
Current Daily Temperature
in Celsius
15
10
Average High
5
0
13-May
14-May
15-May
16-May
May 13-17, 2014
Table 4
17-May
Average Low