Measuring the Earth's Temperature

Gr 7 Up—From the earliest weather stations and weather balloons to today's super weather stations, this film explains and explores temperature data collection, weather forecasting, and climate change. There are seven chapters: "The Earth's Atmosphere," "History of Temperature Data Collection," "How the Earth's Temperature Is Measured," "Super Weather Stations," "Graphing the Earth's Temperature Over Time," "Regional Temperature Differences," and "The Role of Temperature Data in Climate Change Models." Temperature records have been collected for over 100 years, and the means of this collection have become increasingly more technical and sophisticated. Today the primary temperature collection methods involve weather balloons, satellites, and international weather stations. Mostly male meteorologists explain how these technologies work and employ graphs and charts to show the increased warming of the atmosphere. Questions regarding the causes of global warming and its possible effects are posed, but no attempt is made to answer them. Tinny background music occasionally tries to inspire drama, but adds little to the generally flat content and narration. Some of the visuals do not correspond with the narration, such as showing a current weather station when discussing the earliest weather measurements. A supplemental purchase at best.—Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, formerly Trinity-Pawling School, NY