This activity provides students with an understanding of the different weather patterns that exist across the globe. Students begin by gathering and graphing average temperatures for a number of U.S. cities over the course of a year. They then find and graph average temperatures for two stations in Antarctica for the same time period and end by offering explanations for the differences they have discovered, ... Full description.

In this activity, students will be reminded that when sunlight strikes the Earth's surface, energy is absorbed and the surface material is heated. But although the same amount of sunlight strikes different materials at a given location, they heat up at different rates. Students will use models to demonstrate conduction, convection, and radiation and to gain an understanding about what happens to create ... Full description.

In this activity, students will analyze data on daily solar radiation to determine the times of sunrise and sunset and the length of the day. By examining data from different locations, they will be able to describe how the length of the day changes with latitude and longitude. They will download and graph the data (or work from prepared graphs), and answer questions about what they see. Full description.

This activity will help clarify to students that the seasons are created by changes in the tilt of the earth as it revolves around the sun, not by changes in the earth's distance from the sun. Using a light and a globe or ball, they will walk around the light to simulate the earth's orbit around the sun, making sure to keep the 'earth' tilted toward a specific wall of the classroom. They will observe ... Full description.

In this activity, students examine graphs of solar radiation for various times of the year to see how the length of the day changes throughout the year. It can be used as a follow-up activity to the preceeding activity, 'The Seasons'. After examining the 12 graphs, which are presented in random order, they are asked which one represents which month of the year, and to explain their rationale. Full description.

The Stefan-Boltzmann Law is a fundamental law of physics. In this lesson, students will use this law and the near-ground air temperature to compute the hourly irradiance emitted by the surface of Earth. Then comparisons will be made with actual observations of this variable, called upwelling terrestrial radiation. Full description.

In this lesson, students calculate the amount of radiative energy reaching the ground on a clear day, a day with cirrus overcast, and a day with significant cumulus convection. Comparisons will be made to determine how clouds affect the solar radiation received at the surface of Earth. Students will begin to understand the effects of cloud type on radiative energy. They also learn how clouds affect ... Full description.

In this activity, students will examine temperature data obtained from the cooperative observing network, determine its accuracy, and investigate the impact of data reporting interval on the climate record. Each student will analyze hourly air temperature data for a 24-hour period (prepared by the teacher), calculate mean daily temperature by using maximum ad minimum temperature only and again by ... Full description.

This guide introduces educators to the classroom use of oceanographic data from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). MBARI provides near real-time, quality controlled data on surface and subsurface temperature and salinity; CO2 and O2 concentrations; and relative fluorescence, used by scientists to better understand the Monterey Bay ecosystem and draw parallels to the ocean as a whole. ... Full description.

This guide provides a brief introduction to the hydrologic cycle and related concepts. Users can choose from a set of links to pages which explain the distribution of water among the oceans, land, and atmosphere, and the mechanisms by which water is moved between its various sinks and sources. Full description.