US Historical Climate: Excel Statistical

R.M. MacKay, SERC Starting Point

In this intermediate Excel activity, students import US Historical Climate Network mean temperature data into Excel from a station of their choice. They are then guided through the activity on how to use Excel for statistical calculations, graphing, and linear trend estimates. The activity assumes some familiarity with Excel and graphing in Excel.

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Notes from our reviewers

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Educator has to be careful to not allow students to draw too broad of conclusions from one station. For example, a given station may indicate a cooling trend even though the globe as a whole is warming. Students unfamiliar with Excel should complete an introductory Excel activity (see resources listed in activity) before working through this activity. Students should be able to work through this activity at home or in a computer lab with no supervision.
Students work with real data for their home region. Data used in the activity is only available until 1994, which is acceptable given the activity is about historic data, but certainly not ideal. More recent data is available on the [link http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/ushcn/ushcn.html 'USHCN Website'] so the educator can update the activity.
Activity is primarily a mathematical skill builder, using data from a scientific database. Questions posed in the instructions at various points in the activity help keep students on track and help them to abstract from the presented data and see the reason for the statistical analysis. Activity relies heavily on Excel knowledge and skills - could be a disadvantage for some less tech-savy students.