El Nino and La Nina are important temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean. In this lesson, students will create maps and line graphs of data to compare the effects of El Nino and La Nina at two different longitudinal locations, but at the same latitude, using sea surface temperature and precipitation from real satellite data. Full description.

The Sun heats the Earth, but the Earth also emits some of the heat back into space. The net amount of energy determines not only seasonal weather, but also climate trends. According to NOAA, monthly snow and ice amounts have declined over the past decade. By matching maps of snow and ice amounts with maps of net radiation flux for the same time frame, this lesson will give students the opportunity ... Full description.

In this lesson, students download cloud coverage and surface data from the NASA CERES S-COOL website student observation database, then use the Excel spreadsheet program to develop plots of the data. Students explore the relationship between cloud coverage and humidity for low-, mid-, and high-level clouds. The lesson provides detailed procedure, related links and sample graphs, follow-up questions ... Full description.

There are various local and regional climates on the Earth's surface. While the overall climate of the Earth is often the focus of research and discussion, individual local climates are important to consider when thinking of indigenous plants and animals. In this lesson, students will choose two locations, preferably in different climate zones, and compare real NASA satellite data for those two locations. ... Full description.

This lesson will guide students to an understanding of the appearance of graphed data, allowing them to determine how two parameters are correlated to one another. Full description.

This activity prepares you to launch an investigation of the relationship between precipitation and streamflow for a local watershed. It can enrich a study of the water cycle. Following the step-by-step instructions in a case study you will locate, download, format, and finally graph one year of Web-based data for these two variables. The graph highlights the details of this often complex precipitation-streamflow ... Full description.

In this lesson, students learn about the varying sizes of ocean waves, what causes such variation, and where to find giant waves. Students will learn the parts of a wave, and discuss wave height, wavelength, and wave period. They will explore variables that influence wave size through scientific visualizations. They will then experiment with creating waves on the National Geographic Wave Simulator ... Full description.

This interactive site features games, animations, and teachers' materials intended to introduce younger students to climate change. There is information about what climate change is, the difference between weather and climate, and the greenhouse effect. There are also materials on the climate system, ancient climates, and how scientists investigate climate. Other topics include discussions of whether ... Full description.

Students often hear that winters were colder or had more snow in the past. This activity will help them to determine if this is a true or accurate statement for their location. Students will access historic weather information from NOAA and NASA internet resources. They will determine changes in average temperatures, precipitation and cloud cover over time from data and relate global changes to local ... Full description.

The purpose of this lesson is to let students analyze atmospheric radiosonde data from a balloon launched at NASA Langley Research Center by teachers attending a workshop. Other resources are included to assist in interpreting the observations. Students are asked to explain in paragraph format their interpretation of the atmospheric conditions depicted by the data and the graph produced using the ... Full description.