Education Resources in Environmental Sciences

K-12 Resources

Climate and Weather

• Climate TimeLine - an examination of the key forces behind variations in weather and climate, their human implications, and key interactions
• Paleo Perspective on Abrupt Climate Change - an exploration of the causes and effects of rapid and dramatic changes seen in the paleoclimate record.
• When the Weather is Uggianaqtuq - Inuit observations of environmental change

The resources above are provided by our partners at NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center, the Paleoclimatology Branch of the National Climatic Data Center, and the National Snow and Ice Data Center [ About NSIDC ] . The "Climate TimeLine" tool and "When the Weather is Uggianaqtuq" were funded in part by CIRES Innovative Research Program.

Cryosphere
CIRES' National Snow and Ice Data Center [ About NSIDC ] produced these educational products for the cryosphere ("Where the World is Frozen")

• All About Snow, Avalanches, and Blizzards - questions and answers, a snow glossary and snow gallery, and more
• All About Glaciers - something for everyone from glaciologists to grade school students
• Arctic Climatology and Meteorology Primer - a primer full of interesting and informative weather and climate facts for newcomers to the North
• Iceshelves and Icebergs - Antarctic iceshelves and icebergs in the news
• Antarctic Snow Megadunes - studying these unique features found at the end of the Earth
• State of the Cryosphere - an overview of snow and ice as indicators of climate change

Photo Galleries

Hydrosphere
CIRES' Ocean Interactions project, which strives to connect scientists, educators, and students in learning about oceanic and atmospheric sciences, offers galleries depicting "Life at Sea" and "Science at Sea."

Cryosphere
CIRES' National Snow and Ice Data Center [ About NSIDC ] maintains galleries of the cryosphere, where the world is frozen, including a Glaciers Gallery, a Snow Gallery, one collection of images showing Antarctic Snow Megadunes and another depiciting Life on a Russian North Pole Drifting Station.

Lesson Plans

• CIRES' Center for Science and Technology Policy Research [ About the Center ] leads the Flatirons Outdoor Classroom, which provides access to lesson plans in geology, hydrology, environmental science, and "science and society."
• CIRES' partners at the NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory provide educational resources and lesson plans for elementary school (the electromagnetic spectrum and cloud formation) to middle school (wavelengths, liquids and the atmosphere, light beams, and electricity and lightning) and high school (an introduction to remote sensing). See ETL's Educational Outreach Pages.

For additional resources for students and teachers, contact CIRES K-12 education outreach program staff.

College/University Resources

Climate
CIRES' Center for Science and Technology Policy Research [ About the Center ] maintains the Climate Services Clearinghouse, which provides easy access to hundreds of online climate services. The Climate Diagnostics Center [ About CDC ] serves additional climate links via these pages:

• El Niño/Southern Oscillation Education Resources

Weather
CIRES' Center for Science and Technology Policy Research [ About the Center ] offers a number of online resources, including but not limited to these:

• Atmospheric Sciences Policy Education and Network (ASPEN) - weather policy research, education, and outreach
• Extreme Weather Sourcebook - societal impacts related to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, lightning, and other U.S. weather phenomena
• Societal Aspects of Weather - measuring the impact of weather on people
• Weather and Climate Forecasts Use and Value Bibliography - a single resource for published, peer-reviewed articles on the use and value of weather and climate forecasts
• Weather Policy Listserv - discussing both "policies for weather research and decision making" and "weather research for decision making"
• WeatherZine - an online newsletter on the societal aspects of weather