Abstract
In this experiment, I was testing to see how weather affects people's moods. The purpose was to see if a person's mood in the morning was the same throughout the day because of the weather. My hypothesis was that people would be more awake and energetic on sunny, warm days, and tired and lazy on cold, cloudy days. I thought this because the sun gives us vitamin D, and vitamin D gives us energy. For this experiment, I had to take note of the weather forecast in my journal for the majority of February. I also had to choose my ten testers. Daily, I asked them what mood they were in, then after I checked off what mood they were in in my notebook. After I collected my data, I had to make a chart and type up my data on the computer. One of the biggest parts of my procedure was to keep my weather forecasts up-to-date so I would have correct data graphed and posted. Some of the most important facts I found in doing this experiment was that weather did not affect people's moods, but that it affected their behavior. This came to my attention when I was reading about 'Seasonal Affective Disorder' (SAD). Seasonal Affective Disorder is a depression caused by weather. I didn't think this would be a problem when it came time to test because being depressed could be somebody's mood. But when I started testing, some of the testers truthfully told me that they were only in that 'mood' because they either had something special to do after school or they had a paper due the next morning. Even though I don't have a definite answer on 'how weather affects people's moods', it will give me an opportunity to look more in to it in the future. Luckily I was able to prove some of what I hoped to answer.
Topic: In this experiment I will be testing how different types of weather affect peoples moods.
Purpose: I want to test this because I would like to see if weather is one of the reasons why people behave differently, especially on rainy and sunny days. This could help people because people would be able to know what day ( with certain weather ) they would prefer to do something in comparison to another day.
Testable Question: How does weather affect people's moods?
Background Research:
For this experiment I will be testing in Vermont so I needed to find out the most common types of weather. After some research I found that the two most common types of weather in Vermont are Sunny and above 32* and Not sunny and below 32*F.
I decided to test with these two types of weather because it is winter and we don't usually have nice warm weather. In Vermont we have 4 seasons each with it's own common weather types. For instance, it's more likely for it to be cloudy and below 32*F from December-March, and sunny and above 32*F from April-November.
For this weather data I used the "Mean Temperature" which means 'most common temperature', instead of using "Highest temperature" or " Lowest Temperature'. The reason why I decided to collect my data from the 'Mean Temperature' was because it was most likely to be around that temperature in that month rather than always being the warmest or always being the coldest.
For this experiment, I will be looking for three "main moods/energy" types. They are happy and energetic, sad and tired, and tired and happy.
The reason why I'm looking for these specific moods is because this is usually how I have observed many the people around me act/are daily.
But, since it's now winter, some people may be affected by " Seasonal Affective Disorder "(SAD). SAD is a form of depression that occurs in relation to the seasons, most commonly winter.
The symptoms of SAD can very easily affect how somebody acts. The symptoms are;Afternoon slumps with decreased energy and concentration, Carbohydrate cravings, Lack of energy, Social withdrawal, Decreased interest in work or other activities, Increased appetite with ?weight gain?,
Increased sleep and excessive day time sleepiness, and Slow, sluggish, lethargic movement.
This may begin during adolescence or early adulthood. However, SAD occurs more frequently in women rather than men. People with "winter blahs" or "cabin fever" do not have Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD will have an affect on my experiment. But, there are two moods that I am looking for that the symptoms of SAD will fall under. So, it can help me, and yet again be against me. BEcause, if in fact a person that I'm testing does have SAD, then it will cause a lot more of the same data.
Hypothesis: I think that more people are going to be tired and happy when it isn't sunny and below 32*F and more people will be happy and energetic on sunny days that are above 32*F. I think this because the sun gives us energy and vitamin D. Having more vitamins and being healthy tends to give you more energy. Especially with vitamin D, because scientists have discovered five different types of vitamin D,( vitamin D1, D2,D3,D4, and D5 ). However, only two of these types of vitamin D matter to humans, which are Vitamin D2(ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3(cholecalciferol). Vitamin D2 is made from ergosterol, and vitamin D3 is made from 7-dehydrocholesterol. Only 20 minutes in the sun a day gives you all the vitamin D you need for that day. In winter, we don't usually have more than 20 minutes of sun, and even if we do, we would most likely be inside for school/work or because it's to cold to stay outside.
Variables: Independent Variables: weather
Dependent Variable: amount of people; How many boys/how many girls; how many adults vs. children.
Materials: I would need:
-a pencil and a notebook
-definetely a computer.
-weather forcast/news
- people to test this with
- Survey
Procedure: The steps that I will take to test tis experiment are a continued 5 steps, which are:
Step#1: I will watch the weather forecast and take notes of the weather to come in my notebook
Step#2: When there is a day when the weather is what I'm testing, I will pay close attention to the ten people I'm testing this with and take careful note of how they were acting.
Step#3: Make a chart or table in your notebook having the names of the people on the side and their moods' on top. Check off the box(with an 'X' or check mark) under a person's name of the mood they were in that day.
Step#4: If in fact the mood/attitude that person was in was NOT on the list, add that mood to the list and check it off.
Step#5: Repeat this process until the end of the experiment.
Data:
Adults Moods for different weather.
Teens moods for different weather.
Analyzing Data and Drawing Conclusions: (printed and on google docs)
Application of the Results: (printed and on google docs)
Resources:
The resources I used to find this information was from two different websites. One was:
-http://www.central-vt.com/climate.htm
The information I found on this website was the average monthly temperatures and pricipitation. The other website I used to find this kind of information was:
-http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/vermont/montpelier.htm
This website came in vey handy because it made a table of the average highest temperatures, average lowest temperatures, mean temperatures, and average precipitation. At the top of the graph it listed all the months and had all the data filled in for me to use. The best part was that it told me that it was using fahrenheit to measure the temperatures with.
