Rates of Change: they matter
Quantity Rate of change (wrt time)
Distance or position Speed
Temperature
(e.g. "70 F right now") 		Rate of change
(e.g. "dropping at x deg/hr")
Atmospheric CO2 (e.g. "currently at 389ppm") Rate of change (e.g. "increasing at 2ppm per yr")
Speed What goes here?Answer: acceleration

  • Ears popping
  • Car accidents: "three crashes"

  • "Why is jumping from tall building a bad idea?"

  • Ice cubes from freezer into room? Or into hot water?
  • Physics: string and a weight
  • Economic stimulus: "How much?" but also: "How fast?"
  • A Creek (mis)adventure

  • What a superhero shouldn't do
    Superman catches person falling from skyscraper

  • What a superhero could do
    Bullet headed towards immobile victim
    And you have "all the time in the world"

  • Atmospheric CO2:
    Record-breaking "How high?" but also: record-breaking "How fast?"