Math Concept Reader
Forecast: Sunny Skies! Math Concept Reader ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 1 1/7/07 1:08:56 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Expedition: Antarctica by Aenea Mickelsen ca62xs_lay_061207ad_am.indd 4 1/9/07 9:09:15 AM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Copyright © Gareth Stevens, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed for Harcourt, Inc., by Gareth Stevens, Inc. This edition published by Harcourt, Inc., by agreement with Gareth Stevens, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechani- cal, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Permis- sions Department, Gareth Stevens, Inc., 330 West Olive Street, Suite 100, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212. Fax: 414-332-3567. HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt, Inc., registered in the United States of America and/or other jurisdictions. Printed in the United States of America ISBN 13: 978-0-15-360199-6 ISBN 10: 0-15-360199-X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 179 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 by Ilse Ortabasi Forecast: Sunny Skies! Math Concept Reader ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 1 1/7/07 1:08:57 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF It is January in Chicago. Outside it is snowing and already getting dark at four o’clock in the afternoon. Olivia and Keisha tumble into the house and throw off their jackets and boots. They cannot wait to tell Keisha’s father the big news at school. The school will have a summer science camp this year! Everyone in their class will have the opportunity to go to camp at Miller’s Lake during July or August. To participate in the science camp, students will have to work very hard between now and the end of the school year. Mr. Rodriguez, their teacher, is giving the class an opportunity to earn points by working hard and showing progress. Today Mr. R., as his students call him, asks his class to start thinking about the science projects they plan to work on. Students need to find a topic, collect data, and then present the information to the rest of the class. If the science projects are done well, these projects will help students earn points so they can attend the school’s summer science camp. Chapter 1: Change of Season ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 2 1/7/07 1:08:57 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Keisha and Olivia need to come up with an idea for their science project. In class, they are studying climates. Scientists describe climate as the weather averaged over a long period of time. To measure changes in the climate, scientists collect data on rainfall, snowfall, wind speed, temperature, and more. The classmates discuss why some parts of Earth have different weather during the seasons of the year. They learned that the seasons are due to the tilt of the Earth as it moves around the sun. At certain times during the year, one part of the Earth is more directly exposed to the rays of the sun. Olivia is surprised how much climate, or the weather, affects people’s lives and what they do every day. “In some parts of the world there is little or no snow,” she says. Keisha says, “I would like to live in a place where I could wear sandals, t-shirts, and shorts throughout the year.” Climate is weather averaged over a long period of time. ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 3 1/7/07 1:08:58 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Keisha and Olivia start talking about all the fun outdoor activities they hope to participate in at the summer science camp. Keisha pictures herself hiking through the woods in search of plants and insects, while Olivia talks about fishing in Miller’s Lake. This conversation leads them to an idea for a science project on weather and climate. The classmates want to find out the percent of days that might be sunny during July and August. They decide to conduct some research on the weather during July and August. They discuss where to find the weather data. Keisha’s father thinks that they should be able to find the weather data on the Internet. They look on the calendar to see which dates the camp will be in session, and they count how many days the summer science camp will last. It turns out that the first camp session starts right after the Fourth of July holiday. The total number of days for all sessions is 50. Keisha and her father discuss how to research weather data. ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 4 1/7/07 1:08:59 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF The next day at school, Olivia and Keisha head to the media center to find the information they need. They spend some time searching the Internet for information on weather. When they are on the Internet, Keisha and Olivia learn that scientists use satel- lites to track changes in weather around the world. The girls are amazed by some of the satellite pictures of Earth from space. While the photos are fun to look at, Keisha and Olivia need information on the weather at camp. The media specialist, Mrs. Arora, has some ideas on how the girls can find the weather data. First, they look at a map to find out where the camp is located. Then, they find a nearby location where they can get data about the weather. Mrs. Arora says they should look at the average data from at least the last ten years to get a good estimate of how many sunny days to expect. Soon Keisha and Olivia find the weather data they are looking for. The weather data tells them the average type of weather during the 50 summer camp days. Keisha and Olivia decide to use the information to make a table. Sky Cover Average Number of Days Sunny 15 Partly Cloudy 25 Cloudy 10 A verage Type of Weather During 50 Summer Camp Days Over the Last Ten Years Chapter 2: Facts and Figures ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 5 1/7/07 1:08:59 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Keisha reminds Olivia that it would be better to display the data in a graph rather than a table. A graph is easier to read and understand for some types of data. The girls discuss what type of graph they want to construct. Finally, they decide to make a pictograph. A pictograph uses pictures or symbols to display data. “It will be more eye-catching than a table,” says Keisha. To set up the pictograph Keisha draws three rows to represent the types of weather that they can expect during summer camp. Each of the three rows is made up of the number of days of either sunny, partly cloudy, or cloudy days while camp is in session. Olivia and Keisha thank Mrs. Arora for her assistance and leave the media center. Mrs. Arora helps the students in the media center. ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 6 1/7/07 1:09:01 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Key: Each = 5 Days Ten-Year Average Sky Cover over Miller’s Lake From July 5 to August 23 Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy Keisha and Olivia decide that they need to create a symbol for the pictograph. The girls decide to draw a symbol that has both a sun and a cloud. Each symbol represents five days of this type of weather. The girls like this idea because it reminds them of how the weather forecast on the local TV news channel shows what type of weather to expect. It will also be a helpful way to represent the data to people who read the pictograph. Olivia and Keisha look at the finished pictograph. They can see right away that there were more sunny days than cloudy days during the past ten years. The graph also shows that there were more partly cloudy days than sunny days. This is what the pictograph looks like when Keisha and Olivia are done: ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 7 1/7/07 1:09:01 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Sky Cover Average Number Fraction of Total Percent of Total of Days Days Days Average Type of Weather During 50 Summer Camp Days Over the Last Ten Years Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy 15 25 10 15 50 25 50 10 50 Keisha and Olivia want to predict the percent of days that will be sunny during the summer science camp. Olivia recalls that fractions can help them find the percents. Predicting the weather is not an exact science. The classmates remind each other that their predictions are based on the data they have. They know that weather can be predicted, but they cannot say for sure how the weather will be this summer. Olivia and Keisha decide to add a column to their table. The first column shows the data as fractions. To write the fractions, Olivia divides the number of sunny, partly cloudy, and cloudy days by 50. Their data represents 50 days at camp. Keisha then adds another column to their table. The second column represents the data as percents. ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 8 1/7/07 1:09:01 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF [...]... to be sunny The symbol % means percent When they calculate the other two percents they find that 50% of the days at camp are likely to be partly cloudy and 20% of the days are likely to be cloudy They write the percents in the fourth column Average Type of Weather During 50 Summer Camp Days Over the Last Ten Years Sky Cover Average Number of Days Fraction of Total Days Percent of Total Days Sunny. .. Marisa the sheet of paper with her computations The students are thrilled that Keisha and Olivia are predicting that 30% of the days will be sunny Edward points out that if only 20% of the days will be cloudy, then 80% of the days will be either partly cloudy or sunny The classmates are really excited about spending a week at summer science camp The data that Keisha and Olivia have shared lets them anticipate... activities for sunny, cloudy, and rainy days After looking at the data, the group decides that it will be cool enough to have a campfire in the evenings The data also helps in planning what type of clothes, equipment, and other things to bring Since many of the days will be warm, they will tell students to bring shorts, t-shirts, and sandals Everyone should have a hat and sunscreen for those warm, sunny days... for the next summer? Explain your answer 3 Use the bar graph on page 10 Have there been more sunny days or partly cloudy days at the camp near Miller’s Lake during July and August over the last 10 years? Explain your answer 4 How helpful are Keisha’s and Olivia’s graphs in knowing on which days it will be sunny or cloudy during each summer camp session? Explain your answer ... class The graph will help them explain the data to their classmates This is what their graph looks like: Sky Cover Data Over Last Ten Years at Miller’s Lake 60% Percent of Days 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy Sky Cover 10 ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 10 1/7/07 1:09:02 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Chapter 3: Hard Work Has Its Rewards Keisha and Olivia share their work with some classmates... ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 9 1/7/07 1:09:02 PM DIGITAL FINAL PROOF Keisha and Olivia decide to display their data in a graph Using the data from the table, they are ready to show the percentage of sunny, partly cloudy, and cloudy days in a bar graph They decide to use a bar graph because it will make the data easier to compare Keisha and Olivia construct their bar graph The title of their graph . Forecast: Sunny Skies! Math Concept Reader ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 1 1/7/07 1:08:56 PM DIGITAL FINAL. 10: 0-15-360199-X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 179 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 by Ilse Ortabasi Forecast: Sunny Skies! Math Concept Reader ca55os_lay_070107ac_cr.indd 1 1/7/07 1:08:57 PM DIGITAL FINAL. see right away that there were more sunny days than cloudy days during the past ten years. The graph also shows that there were more partly cloudy days than sunny days. This is what the pictograph