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Is it possible that global warming has begun to change temperatures in the Intermountain West during the past century? If so, in what ways has the climate changed? To address these questions, you will examine long-term temperature data for Utah and other parts of the Intermountain West. Click below to access to Excel data sheets containing (a) mean monthly maximum air temperatures (Farenheit) and (b) mean monthly minimum air temperatures (Farenheit) for the following cities:
Your assignment is to analyze these data for 3 cities and to determine if one or more aspects of the climate have changed in the past century. You are to again form groups for this project. Please have your group leader e-mail to one of the TAs or to Jim Ehleringer with a list of the group members. Jim will then e-mail your group leader back with a list of questions that must be answered in your write-up and a list of helpful suggestions of what trends to look for in these data sets. Your 5-3-15 write up must consist of (a) 5 pages of text and figures, explaining the observations and coming to a scientific conclusion, (b) 3 separate graphics representing analyses or trends within the data sets, and (c) 15 relevant references. Remember that we expect the group to work together in the data analyses, graphics production, references selection, and data analysis discussions, but that the text writing is to be done on an individual basis. Visit the web site to refresh your memory on how to submit the paper, which must be a PDF file. We have hints available on how to analyze the data: hint #1 hint #2 hint #3 Maybe, you might not be so familiar with a statistical test like the t-test. If so, click here for more information on t-tests. The project must be completed and uploaded no later than November 29th. Please submit your papers earlier, if at all possible. |
| Biology 5460 - Plant Ecology (Fall 2007) |