Keeping Our Cool: Studying the Statistics of Climate Change

Cannon Shipman, Math, Cochrane Collegiate Academy

Curriculum Unit (pdf)

Synopsis

This unit uses statistical analysis to examine and interpret climate change. Students begin by learning about how we measure climate data, using scatterplots as a tool to understand weather compared to climate, evaluate and make predictions based on trends, and uncover other effects of climate change beyond temperature increase. Using the concept of stabilization wedges, students create scatter plots examining the viability of decreasing carbon emissions by 2050, creating a line of best fit to predict future data points. Students complete the unit by using two-way data tables and two-way frequency tables to compare opinions on climate change.