Atziri Ibanez, Kate Thompson, Kenneth Casey, NOAA Ocean Data Education (NODE) Project
This is a sequence of 5 classroom activities focusing on the El Niño climate variability. The activities increase in complexity and student-directedness. The focus of the activities is on accessing and manipulating real data to help students understand El Niño as an interaction of Earth systems.
The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.
Most current El Niño information and data is available at [http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/].
Many terms used in this activity are likely unfamiliar or poorly defined in mind of students. A good glossary can be found here: [http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary].
This resource is aligned with Ocean Literacy principles.
NOAA remote sensing data from the 1990s is used in the activities. The "get data" link in the activity provides data up to 2006.
The educator's guide provides good background information and excellent references.
Comment from scientist: Also aside from the statistical concepts of normal and extreme very little new scientific content is presented, such as "Why does El Niño occur?," "Where can I find out more?" Additional information can be found on the PMEL ENSO pages [http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/nino-home.html].
A carefully constructed series of 5 activities that can be entered at different levels depending on background knowledge and experience of the students.
Students or educators who are not tech-savvy or comfortable manipulating data may have a hard time with these activities.
Students may find the resource more engaging if more recent data is used.
The vocabulary is relatively advanced, and a glossary is included.
The educator guide is thoughtfully designed and easy to follow.
Younger students will need support to complete activities.
Where possible, non-internet options are provided to decrease the need for intensive technology facilities. However, in order to really get the skills, some computer time will be necessary.
