Cause, Correlation and Climate Data

Lab Brief #5

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

Every species solves the same problem differently.

What you'll learn

Carbon dioxide concentration and global temperature have risen together for a century, which is correlation. What makes the link causal is the physics: carbon dioxide absorbs infrared, a mechanism measured in the laboratory long before the trend appeared.

Key words

mechanism
The physical process by which one thing causes another.
proxy data
An indirect record of past conditions, such as ice cores or tree rings.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you watch: what do you think it'll do?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

climate data
graph paper

⚠️ Safety first

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Think about what you just learned: say what "mechanism" and "proxy data" mean in your own words before you start.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Plot carbon dioxide and temperature records on one pair of axes. Then write the mechanism in three sentences and explain why the mechanism, not the graph, is what establishes cause.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Question 1 of 2

What turns a correlation into evidence of cause?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 2

Ice cores and tree rings are examples of:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🌳 Trees can talk to each other through underground fungus networks.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 2 right.

All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: Your own body is doing this thousands of times every second.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Find one thing about your body that's different from a friend's. Wonder why.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “Tell me something you noticed about your own body today.”

🏭Share card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

Cause, Correlation and Climate Data

Next Smart Experiment

Share this experiment

Cause, Correlation and Climate Data

Done with science? Try something else

Your Cart (0)