As students discuss the qualitative data in pairs, Ms. Clark begins a list of students’ claims on the front board, including “very little rainfall in fall,” “mildly dry climate,” and “vegetation and wildlife changing throughout the season.” 

To show differences between regions, Ms. Clark begins by asking students what region of the US their school is located in. Students share some guesses but do not name the correct region. Ms. Clark opens the NOAA US Climate Regions Map page on the smartboard and asks the question again. Students now recognize that their school is located in the Southwest region of the US. Ms. Clark then shares that they will be comparing their qualitative data (and the data from the other local station) with data from a station in another region of the US. She shares the following data with students, but does not share where in the US the station is located.

Anyone can enter a condition monitoring report on CoCoRaHS.org. Click on “My Data” at the top of the screen, and then click on “Condition Monitoring Report” under “Enter My New Reports” on the left hand side of the screen. Condition Monitoring Reports report the changing on-the-ground conditions that observers note weekly, biweekly, or monthly at their station. The conditions noted are related to precipitation or lack thereof and include the date, a condition scale bar (from severely dry to severely wet), a written description, and a selection from condition monitoring categories. The condition monitoring reports serve as qualitative data, which support the quantitative data captured daily in rain gauge reports.

To view the Condition Monitoring via the Interactive Map:
 

1. Click on “Condition” at the top of the map. 
2. Fill in the information for the location and dates you would like to view. Click Search.

To View a Condition Monitoring Summary via the Interactive Map:
 

1. Click on View Data. 
2. Click on Condition Monitoring Summary Charts under CoCoRaHS Data Reports. 
3. On the top of the page, click on CM Maps. Search for your station, state, and/or region on the map and use the sliding scale bar at the bottom of the map to choose your date range of observations. You can view the map as “street map” or “aerial imagery.”

As students interpret data from the Condition Monitoring Reports and Summary Charts, encourage them to refer back to the qualitative notes they took while collecting data in the data recording sheets throughout the year (far right “notes” column of the data recording sheet). 

Guide students to consider what information is included in the Condition Monitoring Reports and the information they are including in the notes section of their data recording sheet. Ask students what information they can begin including on their recording sheets in order to submit a condition monitoring report next week. 

In addition, encourage students to compare the Station Precipitation Summary Charts with their data recording sheets for September, October, and November. For days on the chart that show no precipitation, ask students to refer to their notes to determine whether they measured zero, or were missing data for that day. 

As students compare their fall data with other stations’ data in different regions, there is an opportunity for students to analyze and interpret the data within each station’s data charts. Instead of graphing the data on a bar chart themselves, students can use the Condition Monitoring Summary Charts on CoCoRaHS.org to analyze and interpret a variety of ways to represent a station’s precipitation data. 

Provide time for the students to review the various tables and choose one that they want to use to draw conclusions about the precipitation in the stations represented. 

Questions for students to consider when interpreting data:

• What do I notice about how these data are displayed? 
• What information can be found in the headings of the data sheet, in the graph title, or on the x- and y-axis of the graph? 
• What patterns do I see in the data?
• Are there data that stand out? What are possible explanations for those points?
• Are there data missing?
• Which measure of center would best describe these data (mean, median, or mode)? 
• What is the shape of the bar graph of the data? How does the shape of your station’s data compare to the other station’s? 
• What can I infer based on these data?
• What predictions could I make based on these data?
• What questions do I have, or what do I still need to figure out? What data would help me answer those questions? 

Why is it important to make sense of trends in weather data? 

As students begin to examine more data (e.g., more months, more regions, more seasons), and use more tools to view data in a variety of ways, they may start noticing trends in the data. Scientists use these trends to make predictions about water levels, amounts of rainfall/snowfall, drought conditions, and more. 

• Meteorologists use trends in data to make and verify their forecasts.
• Hydrologists use trends in data to examine water levels in streams, rivers, and reservoirs. 
• Water Management facilities use trends in data to manage the projected water demands of their customers. 
• Agribusiness monitors trends in weather data for crop development and yield. 
• Climatologists examine year-to-year precipitation trends as they review drought, severe weather, and overall climate models. 
• Trends in weather are valuable for recreation enthusiasts, from fishermen to kayakers to ski resorts, golf courses, and more. 

How can I help my students make sense of the trends in our weather data? 

Below are suggestions for students to communicate their sensemaking of trends in weather data for one of the scientists or others listed above (or another from the CoCoRaHS website: Who Uses CoCoRaHS Observations?). 

• Have students share one trend they have noticed in their data. Example: I see it has rained for four days straight, no less than 0.65 inches each day. That is a lot of rain in such a short amount of time. The ground is saturated. 
• Ask students to choose one of the scientists or others (recreation facilities, water management facility, etc.) that use the CoCoRaHS data observations. Example: I think a soccer field manager would be very interested in this trend because if it continues to rain, they may not get many soccer games in, which would affect their overall business. Also, if the teams do play, they will be running into a lot of puddles, mud, and wet ground where the ball won’t roll well, players might get injured, or the fields might get damaged. 
• Have students write a short podcast or weather forecast script to share with scientists or their classmates. Example podcast script: Good morning, and welcome to your daily weather trend report. Today we have disappointing news for all of our soccer fans out there. Unfortunately, with four days straight of rain and no end in sight…unless you can play in rain boots or umbrellas on your head…it looks like you might not get back out onto the soccer fields this week! The overall forecast indicates there might be some clearing in the skies, but our weather trend report suggests that due to the large amount of rain we’ve had for four days straight, the ground may be supersaturated for some time. If your team does decide to head on out there, be careful! Be prepared for kicking up more water than your ball, and know that your ball won’t roll for long after landing, so you will have to adjust your kick. You might be better off playing traveling soccer down in some fields in the Coastal Plains region of the state where they haven’t seen a drop of rain for a month! That’s all for our weather trends report today. Let’s hope there’s a dry spell in our forecast so you can get out to play ball without getting soaked or covered in mud!