Math Concept Reader MCR g5 forecast sunny skies

Forecast:
Sunny Skies!
Math Concept Reader
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Expedition:
Antarctica
by Aenea Mickelsen
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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
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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
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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.
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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.

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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

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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.
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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:

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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.

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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
25
50
10
50
15
25
10
30%
50%
20%
15

50
15
50
15 x 2
50 x 2
30
100
= = or 30%
Keisha reminds Olivia that percent is a ratio that compares a
number to 100. Their fractions compare numbers to 50, however,
because there are 50 camp days. They need to find equivalent
fractions with denominators of 100. Once they have the
equivalent fractions, they can write the fractions as percents.
“We need to multiply the numerator and the denominator of
the fraction by a number that gives us a denominator of 100,”
Olivia says. Olivia sets up the computation for the first percent.
This means that 30 percent of the days at camp are likely 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.

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60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%

0%
Sky Cover Data Over Last Ten Years at
Miller’s Lake
Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy
Sky Cover
Percent of Days
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 says, “Sky Cover Data Over Last Ten Years at Miller’s Lake.”
They also add the labels “Sky Cover” and “Percent of Days” to
the axes. Finally, they graph their data using a different color for
each type of sky cover.
The bar graph is complete. Keisha and Olivia are looking
forward to presenting the research and data they have collected
to the class. The graph will help them explain the data to their
classmates. This is what their graph looks like:
10
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Keisha and Olivia share their work with some classmates the
following week at school. Olivia decides to add a collage of
photos that show all the fun things they will do at camp. Edward,
a classmate, asks them to explain where they found the data in
the graphs. Keisha tells him how Mrs. Arora, the media specialist,
helped them research the weather for the last 10 years. Marisa,
another student in the class, asks the girls to explain how they

calculated the percentages. Olivia shows 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 ei-
ther 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 good weather at the
summer science camp.
11
Chapter 3:
Hard Work
Has Its Rewards
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The girls give their presentation to the entire class. When they
finish, other students have many questions about their data. For
example, they ask Keisha and Olivia whether they have any data
on how many rainy days to expect. They want to know how hot
the temperatures might get during the day. Someone asks how
cold the temperatures might be at night.
“These are all good research questions,” says Mr. Rodriguez.
“You two are making great progress and with a little more work
you will be well on your way to earning points for science camp.”
Keisha and Olivia are encouraged by the comments from their
classmates and Mr. R. They are ready to take on the new
assignments. They think about how they will approach these new
questions. Keisha and Olivia will return to the media center
tomorrow to find the information they need. They will ask Mrs.
Arora to help them again. They are already planning to make

tables and graphs to share the data they find.
1
The class asks many good research questions.
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The next day, Keisha and Olivia begin their new research
assignments. At the media center they use a computer to search
the Internet for weather data. They return to several Web sites
to look for the temperature and rain data they need. They try to
figure out what other information they need to help them answer
these new questions.
After Keisha and Olivia find the percentages for the data, they
get to work on making graphs. Since a bar graph worked well
for presenting information on sky cover, they decide to make bar
graphs again. They make a graph to show the percent of days
they predict it will rain during camp. Then they make a graph
that shows the percent of days with daytime highs of over 90
degrees Fahrenheit. They make a bar graph showing the percent
of days with temperatures below 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
1
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%

0%
Temperature Data Over Last Ten Years at
Miller’s Lake
Days
Above
90˚F
Fahrenheit
Percent of Days
Days
Between
80˚F and 90˚F
Days
Below
80˚F
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The following week, they present their data to Mr. R. and their
classmates. The class studies the data on the graphs to determine
what it might mean. Mr. R. studies their original data and their
computations. He is impressed by how accurately his students
have prepared their graphs. Mr. R. places sun-shaped stickers on a
large chart he has prepared for counting “summer-camp” points.
Olivia and Keisha are quite pleased to be the first ones who earn
points toward summer camp!
Olivia and Keisha help other students with their ideas for
science projects. They begin by asking good research questions.
They help other students by finding out what types of data they
need to answer their questions. Finally, they help by finding
percentages within their data and representing the data on
graphs. They learned that using graphs helps to make the data

easier for others to understand. Their research and data collection
skills have come in handy as Keisha and Olivia help other students
in the class.
1
Mr. R. uses this sticker to count points.
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Later in the week, Keisha and Olivia join the summer science
camp planning committee. This group of students and teachers
will help with the planning and preparations for camp. Although
the camp is six months away, a lot of organizing needs to be
done.
The planning committee is pleased with the weather data
Keisha and Olivia have collected. The data also helps in
planning 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.
It is fun to plan for summer camp while the January winds
blow. Everyone is sure that summer science camp will be a great
success. Keisha and Olivia and all of their classmates can hardly
wait for summer to arrive. They are counting the days!
1
Olivia counts the days until summer science camp.
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1
Glossary
climate the pattern of weather over many years
data information collected about people or things, often to
draw conclusions about them
denominator the number below the bar in a fraction that tells
how many equal parts are in the whole
equivalent having the same value
numerator the number above the bar in a fraction that tells
how many equal parts of the whole are being considered
partly cloudy 30-70 percent of sky covered by clouds
percent a ratio of a number to 100
ratio the comparison of two quantities
Photo credits: cover, pp. 4, 6, 12 © Corbis; p. 3 © Images.com/ Corbis; p. 15 © Jonathan
Nourok/Photo Edit.
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Think and Respond
1. If there are 4 rainy days during the 50 days at camp this
year, what percent of the total number of days are rainy
days?
2. Why do you think it is more important to look at weather
data from many previous summers rather than just
one summer in order to predict the weather 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.