BLM Leg 3 #10	Line Graph: Long-Range Weather Forecasting Data
P 1 of 2

Weather forecasting is not an exact science. Forecasting can take place one day, three days, five days, or more in advance of the target date. 

PREDICT:

1.	How accurate you think long-term weather forecasts are? 
__________________________________________________________________

2.	Which forecast, short-term or long-term, do you think will be most accurate? __________________________________________________________________

3.	Why? _____________________________________________________________

EXPERIMENT:

4.	Collect and record long-range temperature forecast data for your community for one week. Use one of the following sources of weather forecast data: newspaper, radio station, television weather channel, Environment Canada Internet site. Use the Data Collection Chart in BLM Leg 3 #10 to record your forecast temperatures. To collect your data, begin five days, three days, and one day in advance of the target date. For example, if your target day is Monday
•	Start the previous Wednesday for the five-day forecast
•	Start the previous Friday for the three-day forecast
•	Start the previous Sunday for the next-day forecast
•	Record the actual temperatures from Monday to Sunday
•	Record the temperature on your school outdoor thermometer from Monday to Sunday.

ANALYZE:

5.	Plot all temperature information on a large wall-sized line graph. Colour code each forecast appropriately.
•	five-day forecast – blue
•	three-day forecast – red
•	one-day forecast - green
•	actual temperature - black
•	school recorded temperature - purple

BLM Leg 3 #10		Line Graph: Long-Range Weather
P 2 of 2 			Forecasting Data (Continued)

6.	Answer the following questions based on your observations from the line graph.

a)	Which of the forecasts was the most accurate? Why do you think this was so? 
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
b)	Who cares about weather forecasts? Why?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
c)	How does the weather forecast matter to you? Write a short paragraph below or in your journal. 
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
d)	Compare the readings on your school thermometer to those reported in the media. Why do you think they are not the same?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

e)	Describe example of technology that has helped us to understand weather and to improve the accuracy of weather predictions.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

	Actual Target Date	Monday
(day/month/year)	Tuesday
	Wednesday
	Thursday
	Friday
	Saturday
	Sunday
	
	Reading of Maximum Temperature from School Thermometer								
Data Collection Chart (for Any Week)
	Actual Maximum Temperature for Target Date
(°C)	       
      							
	One-Day Forecast	Forecasted Temperature for Target Date
(°C)	       
							
		Forecast
Date	Previous
Sunday
	Previous
Monday
	Previous
Tuesday
	Previous
Wednesday
	Previous
Thursday
	Previous
Friday
	Previous
Saturday
	
	Three-Day Forecast	Forecasted Temperature for Target Date
(°C)	       
        							
		Forecast
Date	Previous
Friday
	Previous
Saturday
	Previous
Sunday
	Previous
Monday
	Previous
Tuesday
	Previous
Wednesday
	Previous
Thursday
	
	Five-Day Forecast	Forecasted Temperature for Target Date
(°C)								
		Forecast
Date	Previous
Wednesday
	Previous
Thursday 
	Previous
Friday 
	Previous
Saturday 
	Previous
Sunday 
	Previous
Monday 
	Previous
Tuesday