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Graphing Lab

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Graphing Lab

Uploaded by

y4chvk4694
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name: _________________________________ Earth Science Date: _____________

Creating and Using Scientific Graphs Lab

Objective: In this lab you will be creating and interpreting one of three line graphs. Be sure to
follow all of the directions for graphing that we discussed in your note packet. Your graphs
should be neat and easy to read.

Vocabulary:
- Sunspot: Dark spot on the surface of the Sun caused by intense magnetic activity

- Tide: the periodic rise and fall of the waters of the ocean and its inlets, produced by the
attraction of the moon and sun

Graph I: Average Annual Sunspots


Use the “Average Annual Sunspots” data to create a line graph. For this graph you should:
● Turn the graph paper sideways so that the X-axis (time) is the longer side.
● Make your line by connecting the points in a dot-to-dot fashion with a ruler.
● Make sure you create a scale that fills the majority of the paper and label axes.

Year Number of Sunspots Year Number of Sunspots


1978 93 1989 145
1979 155 1990 155
1980 146 1991 150
1981 134 1992 94
1982 116 1993 55
1983 72 1994 30
1984 46 1995 18
1985 18 1996 7
1986 13 1997 21
1987 29 1998 64
1988 50 1999 93
Graph II: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations
Use the “Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide” data to create a line graph. For this graph you should:
● Label the X-axis with “time.” Start with 160 at the left of the axis with the numbers
decreasing toward the right until you reach 0 (present time).
● Make sure you create a scale that fills the majority of the paper and label axes.
● Draw a best fit curve for this line graph.

Years Before Present Atmospheric Carbon Years Before Present Atmospheric Carbon
(x 1000) Dioxide (ppm) (x 1000) Dioxide (ppm)
160 190 70 250
150 205 60 190
140 240 50 220
130 280 40 180
120 278 30 225
110 240 20 200
100 225 10 260
90 230 0 371
80 220

Graph III: Local Tides


Use the data to create a line graph. For this graph you should:
● Notice that the axes have already been labeled for you. Familiarize yourself with them
by determining the value of each box on the graph.
● Make your line by connecting all of the points in a dot-to-dot fashion.

Date Time Height of Water (ft)


Aug 31 4:29 am 6.8
10:24 am 1.2
4:43 pm 7.2
11:09 pm 1.4
Sept 1 5:16 am 6.5
11:11 am 1.3
5:28 pm 7.2
Sept 2 12:08 am 1.4
5:49 am 6.4
12:04 pm 1.4
6:20 pm 7.2
Sept 3 1:28 am 1.4
7:23 am 6.3
1:00 pm 1.5
Discussion Questions: Display all 3 graphs so each group member can use them in addition to
the data to answer the following questions. Respond in complete sentences where appropriate.

1. What similarities and differences do you observe between the three graphs?

Sunspots

CO2 Tides

2. Using the Hempstead Harbor Tides graph, estimate the height of the water at 2pm on
September 1st.

3. Assuming the most recent trend in Carbon dioxide levels continues, what would you expect
the concentration to be in another 10,000 years? Explain your reasoning.

4. Approximately how much time passes between:


a) two consecutive high tides:

b) two consecutive solar sunspot maxima


5. Describe the general appearance of a graph for a change that occurs in a cyclic, predictable
fashion.

6. The height of the water on the tides graph at 4:29am was 6.8ft. At 10:29 am the height of
the water fell to 1.2ft. Calculate the rate of change for the height of the water per hour during
this time. SHOW ALL WORK.

Conclusion: List at least two other natural events in Earth Science that would be considered
cyclic. Why is it important for scientists to study these events?

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