Averages, VaRiaBiLiTy, and EXTREMES in Weather and Climate

Videos

Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by Paleontological Research Institution

Open Resource

What it is

This video shows how scientists use average temperature measurements and measurements of temperature variability to understand how the climate is shifting.
Students will see how global temperature distribution can be represented by a bell curve. When temperatures become more variable, the bell curve widens, and when average temperatures increase, the bell curve moves further down the axis.

Teaching tips

Positives

This interesting video shows students how statistics can help us to understand changes in climate.
The video uses easy-to-understand graphs to show the temperature data.

Additional Prerequisites

Students should be familiar with statistics terms such as bell curves, probability, distribution, and spread.

Differentiation

Math and statistics classes could use this video to show how climate scientists use statistics in real-world applications.
In small groups, students could discuss the following questions:
- Who will be affected by greater variability in the weather? Why?
- What does a wider bell curve indicate in terms of variability?
- Explain how higher average temperatures and greater temperature variability can both lead to extreme heat?
Other resources on this topic include this NASA video that shows how land temperature anomaly distributions have changed, this TED video on why 1.5 degrees of global warming is a big deal, and this article on how increasing heat will change life on Earth.

From the scientist review

This resource explains the relationship and differences between climate averages, variability, and extremes. This resource is recommended for teaching.

How we review resources

Ready to use it?

Hosted on youtube.com

Open Resource

Want this to fit your class?

Add your location for local examples, questions, and action ideas.

At a glance

Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics
Format: YouTube Video
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: Paleontological Research Institution
Authors: Paleontological Research Institution
Published: June 3, 2022
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.ID.A.3 + 3 more

Connecticut Climate Education Hub

Common Core Math Standards (CCSS.MATH)

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.ID.A.3Interpret differences in shape, center, and spread in the context of the data sets, accounting for possible effects of extreme data points (outliers).
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.SP.B.3Informally assess the degree of visual overlap of two numerical data distributions with similar variabilities, measuring the difference between the centers by expressing it as a multiple of a measure of variability. For example, the mean height of players on the basketball team is 10 cm greater than the mean height of players on the soccer team, about twice the variability (mean absolute deviation) on either team; on a dot plot, the separation between the two distributions of heights is noticeable.

Connecticut Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

HS-ESS2-4.Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate.
HS-ESS3-5.Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth’s systems.

Cookie Preferences

What it is

Teaching tips

From the scientist review

Ready to use it?

Want this to fit your class?

Related Teaching Resources