Graphing Temperatures of Two Island Locations

Engage (Activate Prior Knowledge):

  1. What is climate? ______
  1. What is weather? ______
  1. Are temperature and climate the same or different? Explain why you think they are the same or different. ______
  1. Look at the Maps of Palau (A) and the Galapagos (B) below.You are going to examine the temperatures of these island locations over a one year period. The island of Palau is located about 7 degrees north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, north of Australia. The Galapagos Islands are located on the equator, at 0 degrees latitude,west of South America.

Based on your current knowledge of temperatures on our planet,describe what you think the general climate of Palau would be like.Remember it is 7 degrees north of the equator. ______

Describe what you think the climate of the Galapagos Islands would be like. Remember it is on the equator. ______

Do you think the climate of these two locations will be the same or different? Explain why you think they will be the same or different?______

Explore:

  1. Graph the data in the table below on a double line graph using the graph paper attached. The graph should be as large as possible or take up as much room as possible so that the trends are made very clear. Don’t forget to put your independent and dependent variables on the correct axis, (remember,“I the scientist change the independent variable” and “DRY MIX”), to include your X and Y axis graph titles (including appropriate units), and to create a title for the graph that includes information about both the independent and the dependent variables in your experiment. Since you are making a double line graph you will also need to create a key for your lines. Please color-code them and make your graph as neat as possible.

Average Monthly Temperature Data
Palau °F / Galapagos °F
Jan / 81 / 77
Feb / 81 / 78
Mar / 81 / 83
Apr / 82 / 83
May / 82 / 77
Jun / 81 / 72
Jul / 81 / 75
Aug / 81 / 70
Sep / 82 / 70
Oct / 82 / 71
Nov / 82 / 73
Dec / 82 / 74

Use your completed graph to answer these questions.

  1. Did the temperatures ofPalau behave as you thought that they would? Explain how they were similar or different from what you thought they would be.______
  1. Did the temperatures of the Galapagos Islands behave as you had predicted they would? Explain how they were similar or different from what you thought they would be. ______

______

Explain:

  1. Color the arrows on the attached map of ocean currents. Color the cold ocean current arrows blue and the warm ocean current arrows red. Also put a dot and a “P” where the island of Palau should be located and a dot and a “G” where the Galapagos Islands should be located.
  1. Examine your colored ocean currents map and the location of both the islands.

What type of current is running next to Palau? Cold or Warm

What type of current is running next to the Galapagos Islands? Cold or Warm

  1. Based on the data that you graphed earlier and the types of currents that are next to each island, what logical conclusion can you make about the cause for the temperature differences on the islands? ______

Expand:

Watch the three video segments from the PBS program, “Hot Planet, Cold Comfort”, at the following web link,

and answer the questions below about each segment.

Video Questions: Hot Planet – Cold Comfort

Part 1: The Sea’s Greatest River

  1. “The Sea’s Greatest River,” is known as the ______.
  2. East Greenland Currentc. Cape Horn Current
  3. Gulf Streamd. North Atlantic Current
  1. What fraction of the Sun’s energy falling on the Atlantic Ocean is redistributed by this “Great River?”
  2. 1/3 c. 3/4
  3. 1/4 d. 1/2
  1. The tropics have high salinity water while the poles have lower salinity water because ______.

a. in the tropics it rains salty water and in the poles it rains fresh water

b. there are natural salt deposits at the bottom of the ocean in the tropics and none near the poles

c. in the tropics high temperatures evaporate more water leaving the salt behind and in the poles increased precipitation adds more fresh water

d. most of the salt is taken out of the water at the poles and used to make ice for the ice caps while at the tropics the salt is left in the water

  1. Between 1970 to 2004 the amount of freshwater introduced into the North Atlantic Ocean has ______.

a. decreasedc. doubled

b. stayed the samed. increased

  1. An influx of freshwater into the North Atlantic would affect the warm water “pump” by ______.
  2. slowing or stopping itc. making it skip
  3. making it pump fasterd. rusting it
  1. If the pump stops, how will this affect the temperatures in the Eastern US and Northern Europe?
  2. they will increase by about 2-5 degrees
  3. they will decrease by about 2-5 degrees
  4. they will first increase and then decrease
  5. they will not change at all

Part 2: Water Water Everywhere

  1. What is the source of most of the freshwater that enters the Arctic Ocean?
  2. precipitation that falls directly on the ocean
  3. precipitation that falls over nearby land and runs off into the ocean
  4. there is no source of freshwater just less salt so the water seems fresher
  5. there is only saltwater entering the ocean
  1. How has the amount of runoff near the poles changed over the past decade?

a. it hasn’t changed at all

b. it has decreased or “ramped down”

c. it has increased or “ramped up”

d. it has been cut in half

  1. Describe how scientists have measured the heights of the glaciers in Alaska.

a. they climb to the top and drop a tape measure down from the highest point

b. they just look at the glacier and guess how tall it is

c. by adding up the amount of snow that has fallen on the glacier since the beginning

d. precision flying over a glacier while bouncing a laser off of the glacier surface

  1. From 1950 to 1990 the height of glaciers changed on average by ______while during the period from 1990 to 2002 the average change was ______.
  2. decreasing a half meter per year; a decrease of 1.8 – 2 meters per year
  3. decreasing 1.8 – 2 meters per year; a decrease of a half meter per year
  4. increasing a half meter per year; an increase of 1.8 – 2 meters per year
  5. increasing 1.8 – 2 meters per year; an increase of a half meter per year
  1. In the last 50 years ______gallons of freshwater have been added to the oceans from Alaska and Western Canada.

a. 90 billion c. 900 trillion

b. 9 billion d. 90 trillion

  1. The greatest disruption of ocean circulation would be caused by ______.
  2. a gradual release of a large volume of freshwater
  3. a sudden release of a large volume of freshwater
  4. a gradual release of a large volume of saltwater
  5. a sudden release of a large volume of saltwater

Part 3: Only a Little Ice Age

  1. How many degrees of cooling occurred during the Little Ice Age?
  2. threec. twenty
  3. twod. ninety-nine
  1. What information can be gained from studying the shells in the ocean sediment core?

a. the age of the shellsc. the temperature of water the shells lived in b. both a and c d. none of the above

  1. Has the Earth’s climate been stable during the last 12,000 years?

a. no it has cooled once before

b. no it has cooled 6-8 times before

  1. it is hard to say
  2. yes
  1. Describe what caused the sudden cooling in climate about eighty-two hundred years ago?

a. the water from melting ice sheets gathered behind ice walls and when the walls melted the water burst out and flooded the ocean with freshwater stopping the circulation of warm water in the Gulf Stream

b. a lot of volcanoes erupted all at the same time and blew lots of ash into the air which blocked out the Sun causing it to get really cold

c. the Sun just stopped putting out as much energy for a few years

d. the Earth got really far away from the Sun so it got colder

5.What would be the most likely cause of a sudden change in the thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic?

a. a large piece of ice from the Arctic or Greenland ice sheet fell into the ocean and melted

b. there was a giant hurricane and it rained more than ever before

  1. humans artificially added a lot more salt to the ocean
  1. due to global warming the oceans become very warm increasing evaporation