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Temp Work (Updated!)

How has the global climate changed over time?

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Temp Work (Updated!)

How has the global climate changed over time?

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Check it out! This lesson was just updated in September 2024, and we hope you love the new and improved version. If you've already prepped an earlier version, fear not, you can still find those here through Thursday December 5, 2024.

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Temp Work - Student Handout.pdf
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Temp Work - Teacher Guide.pdf
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2023-2024 Versions

In the fall of 2024, Citizen Math released updated versions of every lesson in our library, plus a few new ones! We know you may have already prepped an earlier version or planned a repeat of last year, so we're continuing to make these earlier versions available through Thursday December 5, 2024.

You can find the new lessons through the regular search, and we hope you love them as much as we do. You can read more about these updates in Our Community.

How has Earth’s temperature changed over time? Scientists say there’s a difference between weather and climate. Even if a given month is cooler than average, the long-term trend shows that Earth has gotten warmer over the past century.

In this lesson, students use positive and negative integers to compare recorded monthly temperatures to their long-term averages and consider actions they can take to take care of the planet.

REAL WORLD TAKEAWAYS

  • Even though temperatures vary around the world, scientists can combine measurements to create a global average temperature.
  • When looking for trends, climate scientists compare temperatures for a given month against a long-term monthly average.
  • Since 1901, the monthly temperatures have gotten warmer over time (relative to their long-term averages); there are variations here and there, but the long-term trend is upwards.

MATH OBJECTIVES

  • Operate with decimals and compare values
  • Use positive and negative numbers to describe how values differ from a baseline in a real-world context
  • Plot positive and negative values on a vertical number line
Appropriate most times as students are developing conceptual understanding.
Grade 6
Positive & Negative Integers
Grade 6
Positive & Negative Integers
Content Standards 6.NS.5 Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values (e.g., temperature above/below zero, elevation above/below sea level, credits/debits, positive/negative electric charge); use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation. 6.NS.6 Understand a rational number as a point on the number line. Extend number line diagrams and coordinate axes familiar from previous grades to represent points on the line and in the plane with negative number coordinates. (a) Recognize opposite signs of numbers as indicating locations on opposite sides of 0 on the number line; recognize that the opposite of the opposite of a number is the number itself, e.g., ‐(‐3) = 3, and that 0 is its own opposite. (b) Understand signs of numbers in ordered pairs as indicating locations in quadrants of the coordinate plane; recognize that when two ordered pairs differ only by signs, the locations of the points are related by reflections across one or both axes. (c) Find and position integers and other rational numbers on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram; find and position pairs of integers and other rational numbers on a coordinate plane. 6.NS.8 Solve real-world and mathematical problems by graphing points in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane. Include use of coordinates and absolute value to find distances between points with the same first coordinate or the same second coordinate.
Mathematical Practices MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. MP.4 Model with mathematics.

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Jenius! (Updated)

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Ratios & Unit Rates
Great anytime, including at the beginning of a unit before students have any formal introduction to the topic.

New-Tritional Info (Updated!)

Should restaurants rewrite menus in terms of exercise?

Grade 6
Equations & Expressions
Great anytime, including at the beginning of a unit before students have any formal introduction to the topic.

Tip Jar (Updated!)

What’s the fairest way to tip at a restaurant?

Grade 6
Percents
Great anytime, including at the beginning of a unit before students have any formal introduction to the topic.

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Is there an upside to having a bad day?

Grade 6
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Great anytime, including at the beginning of a unit before students have any formal introduction to the topic.

AlgoRhythm

What are the consequences of personalization algorithms?

Grade 6
Ratios & Unit Rates
Great anytime, including at the beginning of a unit before students have any formal introduction to the topic.