Chart assignment

Charts to read and discuss

Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.

  1. Which asteroids will pass closest to Earth next?
  2. Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

Chart 1 of 2 · Space

Which asteroids will pass closest to Earth next?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

These are the next 15 asteroids NASA expects to pass within 10 times the Moon's distance of Earth, soonest first, as of November 6, 2026; the closest, 2026 VG3 (Nov 7, 2026), should pass 0.64 Moon distances away. A value of 1 means as far away as the Moon, about 384,400 km; 0.5 means half that. Most are small rocks a few to a few dozen meters across, often found only days or weeks before they arrive, so the list changes daily as new ones are spotted. Distances are NASA's best estimates, measured from Earth's center.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Source: NASA/JPL Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), SBDB Close Approach Data (Public domain (NASA data); credit NASA/JPL-Caltech CNEOS) · Data as of Nov 6, 2026

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Chart 2 of 2 · Road safety

Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In 2024 there were 1.19 deaths for every 100 million miles driven, down from 3.35 in 1980. The lowest rate was 1.08 in 2014; it jumped to 1.34 in 2020, when people drove less but deaths rose. Miles driven are the Federal Highway Administration's estimates.

How to read this chart

Each point is the number of people killed in traffic crashes for every 100 million miles Americans drove that year. Dividing by miles driven turns a count into a rate, so years when people drove more or less can be compared fairly.

Questions to discuss

  1. About what fraction of the 1980 rate is the rate in the latest year?
  2. In 2020 people drove less, but the rate went up. What could explain that?
  3. Why is deaths per mile a fairer way to compare years than the total number of deaths?

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and FHWA Highway Statistics (table VM-2) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024

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