Wednesday
Wednesday: Numbers Lab: The Weather Log
Rocket sets a bowl on the floor and a line of tape two steps away. "The par game. Counters in the bowl count up, misses count down."
"Par is zero," says Raven. "Five tosses each. What do you notice happens if you miss them all?"
"Negative five," Rocket says. "The bottom of the log." He tosses. In, in, miss, miss, miss. "Minus one."
Raven tosses. In, in, in, miss, in. "Plus three."
Nova hovers over the tall weather log, where the morning reading sits at -4. "Readings go on the same line," she says.
"Above zero and below zero," Rocket says. "Temperatures and tosses, all on one strip."
Nova hums. "Then the strip can tell you which is farthest from zero."
Your mission
Keep a one-day weather log with three readings, then play the par game. Put every number on one vertical number line.
Temperature readings come from a household thermometer or an online weather report for your town. No one goes outside to read one.
- A household thermometer or an online weather report (a grown-up finds it).
- A tall strip of paper for the vertical number line, from -10 to 10, and a marker.
- Ten counters: beans, buttons or paper squares, and a bowl.
- Masking tape for the toss line, and your Numbers Notebook.
Small counters stay away from children under three and pets.
Toss underhand toward the bowl, away from people, lamps and anything that could fall over.
- Mark the strip from -10 at the bottom to 10 at the top, with 0 in the middle in red.
- Record the temperature in the morning, at midday and in the evening. Write each with its sign.
- Mark each reading on the strip. Circle the coldest and the warmest.
- Play the par game: five tosses each. Each counter in the bowl is +1, each miss is -1. Add them up.
- Mark each score on the same strip. Write which score is farthest from 0, in either direction.
The crew's log
| Reading | Number | Above or below 0 | Distance from 0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | -4 | below | 4 |
| Midday | 2 | above | 2 |
| Evening | -1 | below | 1 |
| Night | -6 | below | 6 |
| Rocket, par game | -1 | below | 1 |
| Raven, par game | 3 | above | 3 |
These are the crew's own readings for their practice day, written in Raven's log. The night reading, -6, is farthest left: the coldest.
Midday, 2, is the only reading above 0. Its distance from 0 is 2, less than every other reading's distance.
- Read the question.
- Tap your answer.
| What the lab shows | True or false? |
|---|---|
| -6 < -4 | ? |
| Rocket's score of -1 is farther from 0 than Raven's score of 3. | ? |
| The night reading is the farthest below zero. | ? |
| -1 > -4 | ? |
A full log. Tomorrow the crew draws the Field Day map with the Numbers Desk right at the center.