Urban Heat: A New York City Exploration

In this activity, students use a graph to make a hypothesis about the difference between urban heat in New York City streets and in Central Park.

Learning Objective

• Students use a graph to make a hypothesis about the difference between urban heat in New York City streets and in Central Park, then compare their hypothesis to data collected in the area.

Download the Student Sheets

Students should follow the directions on the student sheet to draw a graph of their hypothesis of how temperatures change between urban streets and Central Park and then analyze actual temperature data collected from the area. 

Related Resources

• Urban Heat Islands
• New York City Temperature and Variation
• Variations in New York City’s Urban Heat Island Strength Over Time and Space (Gaffin et al., 2008)