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Is the Temperature Warming in Bangor?

Historical Surface Temperature Analysis of Bangor, Maine

Lesson #2

Margaret Chernosky

History Department

Bangor High School

August 20, 2005

MY NASA DATA Workshop

Hampton, VA

# 

# Outline

1.  **Introduction and Rationale for study. *Is Bangor Getting
    Warmer?***

2.  **National and State Geography Standards**

3.  **Procedure: Geographic Inquiry**

    a.  **Ask geographic questions**

    b.  **Acquire geographic resources**

    c.  **Explore geographic data**

    d.  **Analyze geographic information**

    e.  **Act upon geographic knowledge**

4.  **Resources**

5.  **Materials**

6.  **Terms to know**

7.  **Student Evaluation**

8.  **Timetable for Lesson**

9.  **Extensions**

## 1. Introduction and Rationale

### 

Climate change may be one of the biggest future challenges to Mainers.
Early in Maine's 12,000 year human history, small bands of people lived
in Maine close to the land, hunting and gathering and much later with
European immigration, practicing subsistence agriculture, farming and
fishing. The people were highly adaptable. Today few of us raise our own
food and fuel and therefore depend on the larger infrastructure for
energy, food, shelter and water. It is a fragile house of cards and will
surely fall, according to J.H. Kunstler in the [Long
Emergency]{.underline},2005. Today, we put the thermostat up or down
according to our comfort and many willingly pay huge fuel bills; but
many of Maine's people are poor, and small jumps in fuel bills can mean
less food on the table or fewer doctor and dentist visits. As an
agricultural state, our farmers are finely adapted to producing crops
and milk. Climate change may mean that potatoes may have to be planted
later or harvested earlier, or that crop losses will occur. Also tied to
warming temperatures is sea level rise. As a coastal state, sea level
rise is scratching away the coastline and many properties including
islands are threatened.

Students will examine whether the temperatures for locations in the
state are increasing or decreasing through history. Students will use
satellite and ground data and compare datasets to see if there is a
relationship. Historical temperature indicators, such as ice out dates
and maple syrup runs, will further extend the temperature data.

After analyzing the findings, students will make recommendations in a
"White Paper" to the Bangor City Council and the Maine Dept of
Environmental Protection.

## 2.National and State Geography Standards

**STANDARD 1:** How to use maps and other geographic representations,
tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information.

**STANDARD 3:** How to analyze the spatial organization of people,
places, and environments on Earth\'s surface.

**STANDARD 4:** The physical and human characteristics of places.

**STANDARD 7:** The physical processes that shape the patterns of
Earth\'s surface.

**STANDARD 8:** The characteristics and spatial distribution of
ecosystems on Earth\'s surface.

**STANDARD 9:** The characteristics, distribution, and migration of
human populations on Earth\'s surface.

**STANDARD 12:** The process, patterns, and functions of human
settlement.

**STANDARD 14:** How human actions modify the physical environment.

**STANDARD 15:** How physical systems affect human systems.

**STANDARD 16:** The changes that occur in the meaning, use,
distribution, and importance of resources.

**STANDARD 17:** How to apply geography to interpret the past.

**STANDARD 18:** To apply geography to interpret the present and plan
for the future.

##### Maine State Learning Results

**A. SKILLS AND TOOLS**

**Students will know how to construct and interpret maps and use globes
and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about
people, places, regions, and environments. Students will be able to**

1.  Use mapping to answer complex geographic and environmental problems.

2.  Appraise the ways in which maps reflect economic, social, and
    political policy decision-making.

**B. HUMAN INTERACTION WITH ENVIRONMENTS**

**Students will understand and analyze the relationships among people
and their physical environment. Students will be able to:**

> 1.Explain factors, which shape places and regions over time (e.g.,
> physical and cultural factors).

2.Analyze the cultural characteristics that make specific regions of the
world distinctive.

> **3.Procedure: Geographic Inquiry**

a.  **Ask geographic questions**

b.  **Acquire geographic resources**

c.  **Explore geographic data**

d.  **Analyze geographic information**

e.  **Act upon geographic knowledge**

We will use the Geographic Inquiry method to organize our study.
Professionals working to address social, economic, political,
environmental and a range of scientific issues use this 5-step method of
inquiry worldwide. This is a practical method to help organize our study
of changing temperatures in Bangor.

**Motivation:**

1.  Are we responsible for rising surface temperatures? Are we making a
    contribution to global warming? Students calculate their
    contribution to greenhouse gases on line at:
    <http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ResourceCenterToolsGHGCalculator.html>

2.  Students record their emissions on a room wide chart with a scale
    from low to high. Students will explain why their numbers may be
    unusually high or low.

3.  Students will read about the connections between greenhouse gasses
    and global climate change. Lineback, Neal. [*Reducing Greenhouse
    Gas* and *Global
    Chilling*](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/docs/greenhousegas.pdf)*.*
    [Maps 101.com](http://maps101.com/), **[Geography in the
    News.]{.underline}** and take notes. A quiz on content will follow.

**a. Ask geographic questions**

Is it getting warmer in Bangor, Maine?

Can we compare local ground temperature data with NASA satellite near
surface temperature data?

Are Bangor's temperatures reflecting the temperature patterns of North
America?

To what extent are we responsible?

**b. Acquire geographic resources**

Recommended data sets

[MY NASA DATA Live Access
Server](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/data.html) datasets on:

Bangor - Mean Near Surface Temperature

North American Cities at 45 degrees North - Mean Near Surface
Temperatures

Bangor International Airport Average monthly temperatures

> Historical indicators, ice out, growing season, bloom dates, maple
> syrup runs and diary entries of weather.

**C. Explore geographic data**

# Possible graphs created in Excel include (make all graphs at the same scale):

Graph \# 1 Local temperature data for Bangor, Maine (Bangor
International Airport)

Graph #2 Satellite near-surface temperature data for Bangor, Maine.

Graph #3 Temperature data for selected cities at 45 degrees North
Latitude.

Graph \# 4 Maine historical indicators of temperature, diaries, lake
ice-out, bloom dates, maple syrup runs.

We will overlay the graphs created at the same scale to observe any
relationships.

**D. Analyze geographic information**

Students will analyze the local and North American ground and satellite
data graphs to paint a large picture of temperature changes. Using these
graphs students will answer the geographic questions.

Is it getting warmer in Bangor, Maine?

Can we compare local ground temperature data with NASA satellite near
surface temperature data?

Are Bangor's temperatures reflecting the temperature patterns of North
America?

To what extent are we responsible?

**E. Act upon geographic knowledge**

1.  Students will prepare the graphs for maximum visibility for Bangor
    High School's Open House. Students will share the geographic
    questions, explanations of the process and findings with guests.

2.  Students will write a "White Paper" reporting the findings to
    Bangor's city council and the State Dept of Environmental
    Protection.

3.  Students will explore how they can reduce their emissions with
    [EPA\'s Global Warming Wheel
    Card](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/docs/globalwarmingwheelcard.pdf).
    One side of the wheel illustrates how much carbon dioxide a
    household contributes to the atmosphere per year through activities
    such as driving a car, using energy in the home, and disposing of
    waste. The other side shows how changes in behavior (such as buying
    a more fuel-efficient car) can reduce your emissions.

**4.Resources**

> EPA website [www.epa.gov](http://www.epa.gov/)
>
> EPA Personal greenhouse gas calculator
> <http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ResourceCenterToolsGHGCalculator.html>
>
> Kunstler, James [The Long Emergency]{.underline}. Atlantic Monthly
> Press,2005.
>
> Lineback, Neal. "Reducing Greenhouse Gas." **[Geography in the
> News.]{.underline}** [www.maps101.com](http://www.maps101.com/)
>
> Lineback, Neal. "Global Chilling." **[Geography in the
> News.]{.underline}** [www.maps101.com](http://www.maps101.com/)
>
> [Maine Department of Environmental Protection
> website](http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/beam/factsheets/pollutants.htm)
>
> [Maine Dept of Environmental Protection](http://www.maine.gov/dep/)
>
> [MY NASA DATA website](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/)
>
> [Old Weather University of
> Maine](http://www.umaine.edu/oldweather/index.asp)
>
> [USGS Historical Ice Out Dates for 29 Lakes in New
> England](http://me.water.usgs.gov/reports/OFR02-34.pdf)
>
> [Lake Ice-Out Data for New
> England](http://me.water.usgs.gov/iceout.html)

5.  **Materials**

###### Explorer, Excel, Word, Online [**EPA Personal Greenhouse Gas Calculator**](http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html), [**Global Warming Map,**](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/docs/globalwarmingmap.ppt) [**Climate Change Guide**](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/docs/climate_change_guide.pdf), and [**Global Warming Wheel Card**](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/docs/globalwarmingwheelcard.pdf).

6.  **Terms to Know**

> [Global
> warming](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/glossary.php?&word=global warming),
> climate change, minimum and maximum temperature, ground data
>
> Greenhouse gasses

7.  **Student Evaluation**

###### 

###### Quiz on climate change content material

> [Rubric for "White paper" reporting the findings to Bangor's city
> council and the State Dept of Environmental
> Protection](http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/docs/rubric_whitepaper.xls).

8.  **Timetable for Bangor Warming lesson**

> **Week 1:** Teacher collects datasets and websites, motivation
> activity.
>
> **Week 2:** Students explore data sets and put data into Excel
> spreadsheets for analysis. Compare local ground data with satellite
> data. Add historical indicators to graph.
>
> **Week 3:** Analyze big picture, how are all data related?

Completion, present in letter to the governor and federal congressional
representatives.

####### Extensions

> What other historical data sets can be added to offer a deeper
> understanding of Maine's past climate patterns?

*Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the
Earth...*

*We did not weave the web of life;*

*We are merely a strand in it.*

What ever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. \~ Chief Seattle