A classroom/laboratory activity to model how changes in the radiation entering or leaving the Earth affect the temperature of the planet.
Students will model the data by using Excel spreadsheets and will then determine whether a polynomial function or an exponential function provides the best prediction.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
- How does the Earth’s temperature change for a 10% increase in radiation input?
- Compare different functions (quadratic, cubic, quartic, exponential) to model the data (temperature vs time). Which function provides the best prediction?
About the Tool
Tool Name | Climate prediction |
Discipline | Mathematics |
Topic(s) in Discipline | Model, Quadratic function, Cubic function, Quartic function, Exponential function |
Climate Topic | Climate and the atmosphere, Planetary Climate |
Type of Tool | Laboratory Activity |
Grade Level | High School |
Location | Global |
Language | English |
Translation | – |
Developed by | Nuffield Foundation |
Hosted at | Nuffield Foundation |
Link | Link |
Access | Online, Offline |
Computer Skills | Intermediate |