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Classroom activity:

Oceans and Climate

Part I. Graphing

Use the data in the table below to graph monthly temperatures for cities A and B, such as Seattle and Bismark. The vertical axis is temperature; you will need to label it with the appropriate increments. Use a different color or line thickness for each city.

Mean Monthly Temperature (°C)
City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Latitude (oN)
A 4.1 5.9   9.5 13 16 18 18 16 11 7 5 48
B -13 -11 -3.3 6.1 13 18 22 20 14 7.3 -2 -9 47

 

                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Month

 

Part II. Questions

  1. What effect does latitude have on temperature? Why?

  2. What other factors can affect temperature?

  3. Cities A and B are also at about the same latitude, eliminating difference in latitude as an explanation for their different climates. One of these cities is Seattle, Washington and the other is Bismarck, North Dakota. Based on your graph which city, A or B, do you think is Bismarck


    Explain your reasoning. (Hint: remember the experiment you did about the heating of land s. water).


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