These items are designed for the teacher to use in the classroom or
as background reference material.
Categories of educational information on this page:
Climate Change
Our Planet-Geophysics
Our Planet-The Arctic and Ice
Our Planet-Natural Hazards
Taking the "Pulse" of the Planet -
Observations are fundamental to describing,
understanding and predicting the Earth's climate system. NOAA gathers, analyzes and archives data from the
oceans, atmosphere and land surfaces from different parts of the globe. To learn more about NOAA's role in
Earth Observing Systems, go to the blue text at the bottom of this page.
CLIMATE CHANGE
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The Climate TimeLine Information Tool Weather and climate are always in flux, always changing. At times the
changes can be sudden and dramatic, while on other occasions the changes are
subtle and occur over long periods of time. What are the primary causes and
effects of these changes? How do they relate to our everyday lives and to
human history? These and other questions are explored in the Climate TimeLine.
The Climate TimeLine uses 1) meteorological and climatic processes and 2)
specific climate events of the past. This site has been selected by NSTA as a
SciLinks site.
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/
- Sun-Wise School Program - NOAA
partnered with the U.S. EPA to help educators raise sun safety awareness. EPA has developed the
SunWise School Program, a national education program for grades K-8. SunWise Partner Schools sponsor
classroom and schoolwide activities that raise children's awareness of stratospheric ozone
depletion, UV radiation, and simple sun safety practices. SunWise is a collaborative effort of schools,
communities, teachers, parents, health professionals, environmental groups, meteorologists,
educational organizations, and others. With everyone's help, sun protection can
grow beyond classrooms to the entire community.
www.epa.gov/sunwise/summary.html
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The March 2002 EPIC Teacher at Sea Adventure The NOAA Office of Global Programs (OGP) and the National Science
Foundation announced the TAO/TRITON Teacher at Sea, Ms. Dana
Tomlinson, a 6th grade teacher from Emory Elementary School in San Diego, CA.
Dana embarked on the NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana in San Diego on March 1, 2002 and
travelled to the Galapagos Islands, arriving at Puerto Ayora on the island
of Santa Cruz on March 23. The ship serviced the TAO array along both 95
degrees and 110 degrees west longitude as well as continued work
associated with the Eastern Pacific Investigation of Climate (EPIC) project. Take
a look at Dana's map, lesson plans and daily logs to help with classroom activities
on Climate Change.
www.ogp.noaa.gov/tao/index.htm
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The EPIC Teacher at Sea Adventure - Follow the adventures of two teachers on board the Research Vessel
Ronald H. Brown as part of the ongoing Eastern Pacific Investigation of Climate.
Both teachers have participated in the science being conducted on the ship,
have written weekly lesson
plans, maintained a daily log, taken photographs, interviewed scientists,
and engaged in a dialogue on the special EPIC Teacher At Sea web site. Many
organizations and countries are involved in funding the EPIC Experiment. Primary
U. S. funding has been provided by The National Science Foundation and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
www.ogp.noaa.gov/epic/index.htm
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A NOAA Teacher At Sea Participates in the Aerosols Characterization
Experiments - The Aerosol Characterization Experiments (ACE) were
designed to increase our understanding of how atmospheric aerosol particles
affect the Earth's radiation balance by scattering or absorbing light and by
acting as cloud forming nuclei. Check out Susan Carty, a middle school teacher from
Pennsylvania as she worked with NOAA scientists aboard the NOAA ship Ron Brown.
The story of her adventures was updated as she communicated with
her class and helped them understand the value of these experiments.
www.ogp.noaa.gov/epicace-asia/penn/index.htm
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The NOAA Ship KA'IMIMOANA is a research vessel specifically designed and
dedicated to maintaining the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array of
buoys. Throughout the year, the ship crosses the equator back and
forth; recovering, deploying, and repairing TAO moorings. Various
scientific projects are undertaken by the ship and a daily log is kept
and placed on the Internet when the ship is at sea.
www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/kaimi
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Office of Global Programs Education and Outreach Products - NOAA has the
primary task within the Federal Government to routinely provide climate
forecasts and products to the nation and the Office of Global Programs
assists in this capacity by sponsoring focused scientific research.
This web site includes the “Reports to the Nation on Our Changing
Planet” publication series: The Climate System, Our Ozone Shield, El
Niño and Climate Prediction, Our Changing Climate.
www.ogp.noaa.gov/library/library.htm
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El Niño Theme Page - El Niño is a disruption of the ocean-atmosphere
system in the Tropical Pacific Ocean having important consequences for
weather and climate around the globe. NOAA has primary
responsibilities for providing forecasts to the Nation, and a leadership
role in sponsoring El Niño observations and research. This home page
addresses some of the following topics: What is La Niña? What is El
Niño?; The Impacts and Benefits of El Niño; 1997-1999 Information;
Forecasts; List of impacts and prediction benefits; and 3D Animation.
www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/el-nino/nino-home.html
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Climate Prediction Center - The Climate Prediction Center
serves the public by assessing and forecasting the impacts of
short-term climate variability and emphasizing enhanced risks of
weather-related extreme events. Educational materials include information
on the ENSO cycle, and fact sheets and monographs.
www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/outreach/education.html
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Resource Listing for Weather and Climate Instruction -
This document is intended to assist those who teach weather and climate at any level from pre-school
through introductory college level courses, by listing some of the available instructional resources.
Teachers will find information about resources from the American Meteorological Society and Project
Atmosphere including the formation of the Atmospheric Education Resource Agent (AERA) network,
DataStreme, AAAS, the American Geological Institute, and others, with information about audiovisual
materials, computer software, and data sources.
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/resources
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Frequently Asked Questions about Global Warming - This site can answer
many questions about
global warming, including: What is the greenhouse effect, and is it
affecting our climate? Are greenhouse gases increasing? Is the climate
warming? Are El Niños related to Global Warming? Is the hydrological
cycle (evaporation and precipitation) changing? Is the
atmospheric/oceanic circulation changing? Is the climate becoming more
variable or extreme?
How important are these changes in a longer-term context? Is sea level
rising? Can the observed changes be explained by natural variability?
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/globalwarming.html
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The National Climatic Data Center - This web site is a pathway to
connect with both national and global climate data sets used by the
government and the private sector. The Center has a statutory mission
to describe the climate of the United States and it acts as the Nation's
scorekeeper regarding the trends and anomalies of weather and climate.
NCDC's climate data is used in a variety of applications including
agriculture, air quality, construction, education, energy, engineering,
forestry, health, insurance, landscape design, livestock management,
manufacturing, recreation and tourism, retailing, transportation, and
water resources management. The Center's web site lists a number of
educational links.
www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/climateextremes.html
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CLIMGRAPH - Educational graphics on Global Climate Change and
the Greenhouse Effect. This site can help teachers with more than 50
figures to graphically describe solar energy, the solar system, greenhouse
gases, how the earth's greenhouse effect works, layers of the earth's
atmosphere, human activities that contribute to global warming, and
historical changes in carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution,
world population growth, a NOAA Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Station, Global
Warming Computer Projections, the Potential Consequences of Global
Warming, and global climate change comics.
www.fsl.noaa.gov/visitors/education/climgraph/
- The Teacher at Sea Program
- This program allows a teacher in grade K-16 to apply for the
opportunity to serve as a researcher on NOAA Ships. The current
application materials and ship schedules are available on-line.
A complete application consists of Form A: Participant's
Application; forms B and C: Supervisor and Colleague Recommendations;
and the Medical History Questionnaire.
You need to send your completed application packet at least 3 months
prior to your desired sailing date.
www.tas.noaa.gov
OUR PLANET - Geophysics:
-
Teachers Guide to Stratovolcanoes of the World - This Guide provides
material to educators interested in using the Stratovolcanoes of the World poster
published by the National Geophysical Data Center in August 2000.
For each volcano featured on the poster, NGDC provides a map showing the location of the volcano,
a table of facts, a short fictional story to bring the volcano to life, and
a section with questions to ponder, suggested activities, and additional
references. Key words in bold throughout the text, are linked to definitions
in the Glossary. Simple activities suitable for grades 5-8 are also included.
The poster - Stratovolcanoes
of the World can be
ordered from www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/fliers/strato.shtml.
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/hazard/stratoguide/strato_home.html
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A Paleoclimatological Perspective On Global Warming - Paleoclimatology
is the study of past climate. This web site features information about
global change, global warming and more from the National Geophysical
Data Center.
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/education.html
OUR PLANET - The Arctic and Ice
-
The Arctic Theme Page - The education pages for this site include
many educational resources. For example, you can find information on
tracking the location of the North Magnetic Pole, what kind of research is
done by arctic submarines, the location of a virtual classroom,
how to understand latitude, and the page includes
a polar climate section for young children.
www.arctic.noaa.gov/education.htm
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The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is a federal information
and referral center supporting polar and cryospheric research with
information on snow cover, avalanches, glaciers, ice sheets, freshwater
ice, sea ice, ground ice, permafrost, atmospheric ice, paleoglaciology,
and ice cores. Though the data products are targeted for the science
research community, education resources for teachers and students are
available.
(This is a not a U.S. Government website. NOAA is not responsible for the content of external internet sites).
www-nsidc.colorado.edu/NSIDC/EDUCATION/
OUR PLANET - Natural Hazards
-
Teachers' Resources regarding Natural Hazards - Teachers can select
questions and answers from the Natural Hazards Quiz Database, take a look
at the Natural Hazards Quiz reference list, view NGDC Hazards
Photographs and access the National Information Service for
Earthquake Engineering EQIIS Image Database, as well as view images of
historical earthquakes.
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/hazard/hazards.shtml
TAKING THE "PULSE" OF THE PLANET -
Observations are fundamental to describing,
understanding and predicting the Earth's climate system. NOAA gathers, analyzes and archives data from the
oceans, atmosphere and land surfaces from different parts of the globe.
NOAA's Global Observing Platforms
NOAA's mission is to understand and predict the oceans and atmosphere on timescales from minutes
to centuries. To accomplish this goal, NOAA has deployed an array of global sensors that work together
to provide data needed by scientists. These complementary systems, with information about the
global oceans and atmosphere, operate at different altitudes with different instruments and include:
• Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites - NOAA has two GOES satellites that
monitor the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific Ocean from goestationary orbit 35,800 kilometers
(22,300 miles) above the equator. Because they stay above a fixed spot on the surface, they provide constant
vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions like tornadoes, flash floods,
hail storms, and hurricanes. To learn more about
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites and to access real time images, click
here.
• Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites - NOAA's two operational polar orbiting
satellites scan the entire earth once every six hours from altitudes
of about 850 kilometers (529 miles). Because of their polar orbiting nature, the POES series satellites
are able to collect global data on a daily basis. Data from the POES series supports a broad range of environmental monitoring
applications including weather analysis and forecasting,
volcanic eruption monitoring, forest fire detection, search and rescue, and many
other applications. To see a menu of products from the Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites
click here.
• Air Platforms - NOAA Aircraft have a rich history of investigating hazardous weather which has led to
better prediction of hurricanes, tornadoes, and winter storms. NOAA is also investigating a new generation of unmanned aeronautical vehicles (UAVs) to provide
accurate vertical soundings of atmospheric conditions and chemical composition to complement the satellite
sensors. To learn more about NOAA aircraft click here.
• Surface and Submarine Platforms - NOAA ships have explored the ocean surface and plumbed its depths. NOAA,
along with several other organizations, is now deploying an innovative array of Argo "floats" that descend
several thousand meters into the ocean and then rise again to measure temperature, salinity, and ocean current.
Several years ago, NOAA deployed the TAO/TRITON array of buoys in the tropical Pacific that helped to predict
the El Niño/La Niña cycle. To learn more about the Argo "floats"
click here (this is a not a U.S. Government website. NOAA is not responsible for the content of external internet sites) and to learn about the TAO/TRITON array click
here.
Satellite Information for Educators
Information for teachers, students and the general public can be found by clicking
here.
Small Poster - A letter-sized poster in pdf format can be found by clicking
here.
Archive of GOES-12 and GOES-10 animation can be accessed by clicking
here. You can select
the section of the hemisphere by selecting an area from the maps on the page. (This is a not a U.S. Government website. NOAA is not responsible for the content of external internet sites).
Where in the World is Tomorrow Now? - To see where it's already tomorrow, click
here.
Educational Atmospheric Science-Related Information can be found
here. (This is a not a U.S. Government website. NOAA is not responsible for the content of external internet sites).
A Teacher/Student Designed Website, which was put online several years ago, can be found
here.
Satellite Information can be found by clicking here.
You'll need to download Flash Player, which is available at the site.
Publication of the NOAA Education Team.
Website Owner: NOAA Office of Education.
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Last Updated: August 31 , 2006
11:30 AM
