Climate in a table
Middle school STEM is not a poster. It is a small data set, a graph, and a claim you can defend. This table is a teaching sample — not a political speech.
| Year | Sample town — avg July high (°F) |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 86 |
| 2005 | 88 |
| 2015 | 90 |
| 2025 | 92 |
1. Read (8 min)
What changed? By how much, over how many years? What does the table not tell you (humidity, nights, one weather station, a made-up town)? Write two limitations. That is scientific honesty.
2. Graph (10 min)
X = year, Y = temperature. Even scale. Title the graph. If the line looks dramatic, check whether your Y-axis starts at 80 instead of 0 — and say so out loud.
3. CER paragraph (12 min)
Claim. One sentence.
Evidence. Two numbers from the table.
Reasoning. Why those numbers support the claim — and one reason a critic could disagree.
4. Technology / AI (5 min)
If a chatbot summarizes “the climate,” it still cannot replace your table. Ask it for sources. If it cannot give a real one, it does not go in the notebook.
Classroom science: Grade 8 Week 1 Science