This site is a joint effort of NOAA Research and the College of Education at the University of South Alabama. The goal of the site is to provide middle school science students and teachers with research and investigation experiences using on-line resources. In this unit students explore what El Nino is, where it is located, how it is created, and weather changes that El Nino causes. Students analyze ... Full description.

This activity illustrates how dark land surfaces, light land surfaces and water all heat at different rates. Students determine whether land or water absorbs heat more quickly and how this difference affects weather and climate. Full description.

This instructor guide provides background material for a two-part activity in which students observe convective currents in water and learn that air can behave as as a fluid. Students will understand that temperature changes can cause density changes in water, learn that the same phenomenon happens in air, and understand that temperature-driven density changes will produce currents in a fluid medium. ... Full description.