Weather Map Math

Using the info I learned from Molly Schroeder here, my second grade class set up a weather survey with Google Forms and My Maps. (See previous blog post). The survey quickly spread from friends and family of our class families and sharing on social media. Photos and weather data came flooding in. See our live map here.

We've been enjoying looking at the different locations and talking and writing about why temperatures and seasons would be different. I love that My Maps has an option to color code the pins based on whatever category we choose. I did manually change the warmest bands to orange and red and the very coldest to purple to help them stand out with the kids.

Today, we took another look at the maps during our math block. We are working on addition and subtraction of two and three digit numbers. I gave the kids this worksheet to guide them through comparing temperatures from our home location to a location of their choice.

It was great to see them talk it through in their groups, defend their answers, and explain why there would be a difference. Those who finished one location tried a second choice on a dry erase board. Students who I knew were ready for a challenge were encouraged to try a comparison with the negative temp in Fairbanks, Alaska and how might that work. Several of the kids shared and the class was able to give feedback.

Some images from the class:

We are so thankful for family and friends helping us with this project. We have map data from all over the US, and on all 7 continents - including Antarctica! I'm sure we will refer back to this map many times over the next few weeks. 

Thanks to Molly for her inspiration!