LATITUDE AND TEMPERATURE

What is the relationship between the latitude of a place and its temperature?

Compare the latitude of five weather stations and the present temperatures of those stations. Try to choose weather stations close to the same longitude line so that the stations are receiving approximately the same amount of sunlight.

Make a data table using a spreadsheet with the variables of "Latitude" and "Temperature". Round off the latitude to the nearest degree and arrange the latitude of weather stations in ascending order. Record the temperature of the corresponding stations. Graph latitude and temperature.

For information on temperatures of various weather stations, use

Unisys Weather Map (click on the picture of the map or the region you wish to look at), or

WW210 (scroll down and click on surface observations map of the U.S. or your local region) from the University of Illinois,

For information on the latitudes of various weather stations, use The Geographic Database (in the "Feature Name" box type the city; in the "State or Territory Name" box click on the down arrow and choose the state).

What is your conclusion? Does the latitude of a place and its temperature have a pattern or are they random? If there is a pattern, what is the relationship?

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