The NWS Outreach Office has put together a comprehensive collection of Education and Outreach Resources for students of all ages and levels, educators, and anyone interested in learning more about weather, climate, oceans, the Earth, and the environment.  Links are provided to numerous educational sites as well as links to many other Earth, ocean, and atmospheric educational sites. This listing also connects users to organizations devoted to science education or the use of new technologies to facilitate teaching and learning.

The resources are broken down into three sections: 

• NWS Resources
• NOAA Resources
• NOAA/NWS Partners and Affiliates Resources. 

Items denoted by an asterisk (*) have either been updated or added for the 2010 revision. 

If you are aware of additional sites, now or in the future, please contact us. Your help and participation would be greatly appreciated. Please provide any updates, revisions, or additions to Mary.Fairbanks@noaa.gov and Ron.Gird@noaa.gov .  This document will be updated annually.

National Weather Service

National Weather Service Education resources http://www.weather.gov/om/edures.shtml DESCRIPTION: A list of classroom material, student activities, NWS Glossary, Career information, and some NWS Partners (AMS,TWC) education web sites. All grades, K-12.

*NOAA/NASA Sky Watchers Chart http://www.weather.gov/os/brochures/cloudchart.pdf http://www.weather.gov/os/brochures/cloudchart_ESP.pdf DESCRIPTION: A NWS education/outreach publication intended for the general public, teachers and students. Replaces the NWS COOP cloud chart. Two-sided publication with links to NOAA and NASA education web sites.  A Spanish version is also available.

National Weather Service JetStream Web Site http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/ DESCRIPTION: On-line Meteorology 101 and a description on how the NWS works. Content is intended for high school teachers, students and the general public.

*National Weather Service Forecast Office (NWSFO) Education Links NWSFO Las Vegas Kid’s Page http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/vef/kids/kids.php DESCRIPTION: This website contains weather education materials for kids and teacher resources, weather safety information, weather experiments for kids, information on careers in meteorology and weather history, weather fun activities, and pictures and videos.

National Weather Service Xtreme Weather interactive CD On-Line web capability— TBD.  For additional information, contact Ron Gird at Ron.Gird@noaa.gov DESCRIPTION: First NWS Education product meeting math and science standards for middle schools (Illinois). Topics include, thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, heat, winter storms. CD includes Classroom interactive video material and a teacher workbook.

NOAA-National Weather Service-Tsunami Teacher Education Kit http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/terk_intro.htm DESCRIPTION: Materials for teachers and students to learn about Tsunamis, how the form and how to reduce the risk during a Tsunami event. All grades, K-12.

*National Weather Service-COMET Education/Training http://www.meted.ucar.edu DESCRIPTION: Meteorology Education and Training by the COMET Program for all levels, K-12, General Public and scientists.  Topics of interest include the hydrologic cycle, watersheds, remote sensing using satellites, and urban flooding. Also includes Hurricane Strike! which is a multimedia learning package aimed primarily at middle school students.  It integrates disaster safety and preparedness with science instruction, providing an engaging interactive learning environment.  It also dovetails with science and safety content in the American Red Cross Masters of Disaster curriculum. User account creation required. 

NOAA WeatherRadio-All Hazards-Education/Schools http://public-alert-radio.nws.noaa.gov DESCRIPTION: NOAA Public Alert Radios are being distributed to public schools in all communities across the nation to help safeguard our students. This program is sponsored by the Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce and Education.

NOAA WeatherRadio-All Hazards-Introduction http://www.weather.gov/nwr/ DESCRIPTION: NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

NOAA Office of Education http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/ DESCRIPTION: In conjunction with the NOAA Education Council, coordinates education activities across NOAA and oversees the implementation of the NOAA's Education Plan and Policy. Information on funding, scholarships and student opportunities.

NOAA Education Web Sites http://www.education.noaa.gov/ DESCRIPTION: NOAA's many educational activities are distributed across the agency. This site has been designed to help students, teachers, librarians and the general public access the many educational activities, publications, and booklets that have been produced.

NOAA Student Opportunities http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/noaa_student_opps.html DESCRIPTION: The website is designed to provide information about educational opportunities available throughout NOAA. Information on scholarships, internships and fellowships including a brief description of each program; application deadline; award amount; dates of opportunity; contact name, telephone number, and e-mail address.

NOAA Climate Program Office-Education http://www.climate.noaa.gov/education/ DESCRIPTION: NOAA Climate material for students and teachers. Information on NOAA opportunities, Post-Docs, and Field Research.

* NOAA National Severe Storm Laboratory A Basic Introduction to Map Analysis and Interpretation (grades 6-8) http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/lessons DESCRIPTION: Weather maps can display current observations and numerical model output.  This webpage discusses the beginning of weather maps and the impact they have made on weather forecasting.

* Discover Your World With NOAA http://www.celebrating200years.noaa.gov/edufun.html DESCRIPTION: For the 200th celebration, NOAA assembled educational resources for kids and educators. The materials have been selected to help teachers, students, and parents learn about our ocean, coasts, and skies. The information is organized into three sections to help Explore, Understand, and Protect our marine and atmospheric environments. This activity book includes 43 activities designed to help kids learn about our planet and NOAA's role in exploring, understanding, and protecting Earth. The book can be downloaded in full or as individual activities.

* National Geophysical Data Center Exploring Weather and Climate Change Through the Powers of 10 (grades 6-12) http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ DESCRIPTION: The Climate Timeline uses a “powers of ten” exponential approach to frame 1) meteorological and climatic processes and 2) specific climate events of the past at varying timescales.  Each timescale has its own collection of resources and links to more information.

 * NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS)  Education Discovery Classroom (NOAA Lesson Plans Library) http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education DESCRIPTION: NOS provides hazard-related information and tools using case studies in coastal and ocean science.  The inquiry based lesson plans address how coastal residents can plan for potential effects of natural hazards.  The activities have been developed for students in grades 9-12, but are easily adapted for students at the middle school or undergraduate level.  The comprehensive lessons present NOAA science through activities using online data from NOAA websites.  The lessons are correlated to the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and designed to supplement existing curricula.  Lessons plans for chemistry, earth science, geography, life science, math, and physical science are available.

NOAA Education Celebrates 2009, Year of Science http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/yos DESCRIPTION: NOAA joins hundreds of organizations and agencies in a national, year-long celebration of science to make science more accessible, personally meaningful, and locally relevant. A DVD has been created to represent a small sample of the resources available to educators. This website includes a link to the NOAA Education Year in Science DVD.  This DVD represents a small sample of the resources available to educators.

* National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/outreach_edu.html DESCRIPTION: NOAA's Satellites and Information Service manages data relating to the Earth and solar environments. The website contains links to resources within NESDIS and NOAA which are of interest to students, educators, and anyone interested in learning more about our Earth-Sun environment.

* Satellite Educators Association (SEA) http://www.sated.org/ DESCRIPTION: SEA can custom design programs to meet specific program requirements.  The website has information on and links to curriculum development, teacher training, hands-on laboratory activities, public outreach, and can develop programs to incorporate any combination of the following disciplines: Earth Science, Space Science, Math, Biology, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, and Geology M.Y. S.P.A.C.E. (Multi-national Youth Studying Practical Applications of Climatic Events) is an initiative of the Satellites & Education Conference, held each August at California State University, Los Angeles.  Middle school and high school students who attend the conference with their teachers are brought together in team building activities and charged with a global issue to study during the conference.  They are given the resources of the university and of NASA and NOAA.

* NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory Student Activities in Meteorology II (SAMII) (grades 4-12) http://www.fsl.noaa.gov/outreach/education/ DESCRIPTION: SAM II provides information and educational activities in meteorology, climatology, and space science.  Activities are designed for middle schoolers (grades 6-8), but are usable between grades 4 and 12.

* NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research NOAA Research Activities (grades 6-8) http://www.oar.noaa.gov/k12/ DESCRIPTION: The goal of this site is to provide middle school science students and teachers with research and investigation experiences using on-line resources.  Find out about El Nino, how is forms, and its effects on the weather of the world.  Investigate hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning by tracking their courses and measuring their strength.  Learn how weather is forecasted.  Investigate the origins and effects of global warming and the effects solar events have on the Earth.

* NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov/ DESCRIPTION: Since its inception in 1990, this program has enabled more than 460 teachers to gain first-hand experience of science and life at sea.  By participating in this program, it becomes possible for teachers to enrich their classroom curricula with a depth of understanding made possible by living and working side-by-side, day and night, with those who contribute to the world’s body of oceanic and atmospheric scientific knowledge. 

* NOAA Interdisciplinary Scientific Environmental Technology (ISET) Earth System Science Institute for Educators http://noaa.iset.org/ DESCRIPTION: NOAA sponsored workshop in conjunction with North Carolina A&T University for teachers to learn about earth systems, participate in hands-on activities that can be used in the classroom, and obtain free materials, maps, curriculum guides, and books correlated to the National Science Education Standards (NSES).

NOAA/NWS Partners and Affiliated Resources

American Meteorological Society http://www.ametsoc.org/atmoscareers/index.html DESCRIPTION: Tom Moore, a meteorologist, identifies what type of education is required for a degree in meteorology; what schools offer a degree; what the career choices are; what the job market is like and how it's changing; and how to go about landing a job.

http://www.ametsoc.org/pubs/careers.html DESCRIPTION: The publication, “Challenges of our Changing Atmosphere Careers in Atmospheric Research and Applied Meteorology” describes the science of meteorology and the professional meteorologist.  Several NOAA/National Weather Service meteorologist are highlighted in this publication.

http://www.ametsoc.org/careercenter/index.html DESCRIPTION: So you are considering a degree in meteorology or you are not sure what career path to pursue but you have a strong interest in sciences. The following career guide will give you a broad overview of the exciting field atmospheric and related sciences.

* University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) – Educators Bridge http://eo.ucar.edu/educators DESCRIPTION: UCAR offers resources and activities for elementary, middle, and high school science education.  It includes K-12 activities involving both weather and climate. They also have a 72 page booklet (in PDF format) entitled In a New Light: The Color of Weather and Climate for grades K-5.  This handout is for the popular workshop presented at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) by UCAR Education and Outreach staff.  The booklet provides extensive background information and directions for all hands-on activities presented during the workshop.

National Weather Association (NWA) http://www.nwas.org/committees/ed_comm/index.html DESCRIPTION: The NWA offers to help educators teach meteorology and related areas of science. NWA offers free advice, assistance for anything dealing with weather.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Resources For Parents and Teachers http://www.fema.gov/kids/tch_links.htm DESCRIPTION: FEMA Disaster Web Sites for Parents and Teachers. This is a partial list of Web sites that have disaster-related materials. A more complete list can be found on the FEMA Web site.

Activities for Kids http://www.fema.gov/kids/ DESCRIPTION: This site teaches students how to be prepared for disasters and prevent disaster damage. Students can also learn what causes disasters, play games, read stories and become a Disaster Action Kid.

American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/disaster/masters DESCRIPTION: The Masters of Disaster® series is an educational tool that will teach youth the importance of preparedness while reducing fear of the unexpected. The goal is to empower youth with the confidence and knowledge to prepare for disasters and help create a culture of preparedness.                                                                                                                                                                 *Environmental Protection Agency Sunwise Program for Teachers and Students (UV-Index) Climate Change – What You Can Do At School (Climate Change Kit) http://www.epa.gov/sunwise http://www.epa.gov/climate change/wycd/school.html DESCRIPTION: The SunWise Program is an environmental and health education program that aims to teach the public how to protect themselves from overexposure to the sun through the use of classroom-, school-, and community-based components.  Climate CHECK is a free, excel-based kit that teaches high school students about the science, drivers, and impacts of climate change and provides them with knowledge, tools, and resources to increase climate change awareness and to help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions at their schools.  Students will estimate greenhouse gas emissions using built-in calculators and school-specific “activity data” and develop and implement a mitigation action plan.

*United States Geological Survey (USGS) http://education.usgs.gov http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu DESCRIPTION: The U.S. Geological Survey provides scientific information intended to help educate the public about natural resources, natural hazards, geospatial data, and issues that affect our quality of life. Discover selected online resources, including lessons, data, maps, and more, to support teaching, learning, education (K-12), and university-level inquiry and research.  This website also provides a complete overview of the water cycle, and includes many useful graphic images. This is one of the most comprehensive website about the water cycle. It has many useful graphics with good descriptions, and has translations available in 36 languages.

*The Weather Channel http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com http://www.weather.com DESCRIPTION: The sites include interactive maps, radar for local and regional purposes, weather education, weather materials for teachers, including a weather encyclopedia, careers in meteorology, weather glossary, weather games, climate change information, weather videos, and standards-based lesson plans.  It also includes Let’s Play, Cool Clips and the WeatherREADY modules. 

Heldref Publications Weatherwise http://www.weatherwise.org DESCRIPTION: The bi-monthly magazine contains articles authored by both NWS and NOAA scientists on topics including weather, climate, hydrology, and oceanography.

*Weather Topics http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Weather/weather.html DESCRIPTION: This website contains indexed, alphabetized weather topics from acid rain to Zulu time, in an easy to read format, with many graphics and animations.

*USA Today Weather http://www.usatoday.com/weather/ DESCRIPTION: This website contains interactive graphics about weather and climate topics, articles about weather and climate news, and current weather information.

*Arctic Climatology and Meteorology PRIMER (grades 9-12) http://nsidc.org/articmet/ DESCRIPTION: National Snow and Ice Data Center’s Arctic Climatology and Meteorology PRIMER for Newcomers to the North is a collection of interesting and informative meteorology and climate facts with particular emphasis on arctic phenomena.  Students can learn general information about the basics of arctic weather, the factors that determine weather and climate, and some of the weather patterns in the Arctic.  Brief sections also explore the Arctic’s role in the global climate system and concerns about climate change.  The Primer is designed so that students can browse it in any order, but the basics section is a good place to start.

*Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies – University of Wisconsin at Madison Using Satellite Images to Forecast the Weather (grades 6-12) http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/ DESCRIPTION: Satellite Meteorology provides scientists and educators with exciting tools for investigation, inquiry, analysis, and stewardship.  The Satellite Meteorology course was developed for middle and high school science classes.  The material was designed to challenge students through the end of the 12th grade so middle school teachers and students may want to skim or skip a few sections.  Others wishing to explore the topic further are encouraged to visit the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies’ college level course that was used as a springboard for this project.

*Federal Resources for Education Excellence http://free.ed.gov/ DESCRIPTION: Lessons plans, science visualizations, and more are available in the science section of the website.  This information is provided by federal organizations and agencies.  Resources for applied science, Earth Science, life science, physical science, space science, and other sciences.

*National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) http://neefusa.org/ DESCRIPTION: NEEF provides a variety of resources and publications on topics such as health, weather, public lands, education and business. Classroom Earth will provide high school teachers and students with the resources they need to integrate environmental education into their schools and communities. Through experiential learning, students will be empowered to take positive action to improve the environment now, in college, and as future leaders in their workplaces and communities.

http://www.earthgauge.net/ DESCRIPTION: Earth Gauge is an initiative by the National Environmental Education Foundation and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to facilitate the evolution of broadcast meteorologists into “station scientists” who can expertly cover and relate basic environmental information to their viewers. Through the program, the National Environmental Education Foundation and the American Meteorological Society are providing education and training to help meteorologists “tell the story” to their viewers. Earth Gauge® is a free environmental information service for broadcast meteorologists in major US media markets, based on the 3-5 day forecast. The service is designed to make it easy to talk about the links between weather and the environment on-air with simple facts and viewer action tips.  Selected NOAA/National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologists (WCM) currently participate in the Earth Gauge program.

*National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) My NASA Data NASA e-clips NASA Education Materials: Meteorology – An Educator’s Resource for Inquiry- Based Learning http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/ http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/ http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasaeclips/index.html DESCRIPTION: NASA Education Materials are a way to supplement the existing curricula.  Many of the activities build upon each other, enhancing the understanding of meteorology by beginning with basic and essential parameters of weather and then moving through mind-engaging interactions with complex meteorological systems.  Students can build and use weather instruments and build a weather station.  Students will collect weather information and combine it with existing information about cloud systems and can apply their knowledge to predict weather systems. My NASA data is an effort to develop microsets of earth science data that are interesting and useful to grades K-12 and citizen scientist communities.  The datasets provide information on the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface and are available online, along with lesson plans, teacher-friendly documentation, computer tools, and an earth science glossary.  Science project starter ideas are also available. NASA eClips™ are short relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections. New video segments are produced weekly exploring current applications of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, topics. The programs are produced for targeted audiences: K-5, 6-8, 9-12 and the general public.

* Students’ Cloud Observations Online (S’COOL) http://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/ DESCRIPTION: S'COOL (Students' Cloud Observations On-Line) is a NASA sponsored project which involves school children in real science. They provide ground truth measurements to assist in the validation of the CERES instrument. They can also compare the surface- and space-based observations to learn more about clouds and climate. Any primary or secondary school teacher and his or her class can participate in S'COOL. It is suggested students be at least nine to ten years old, but younger students are welcome if the teacher feels it is appropriate. Teachers are invited to participate as it best fits with the curriculum they are teaching in the classroom. Occasionally Intensive Observing Periods (IOP) will still be announced, during which we would like to receive the most observations possible to contribute to validation of the CERES instrument data. S'COOL currently reaches over 1700 schools in all 50 states and in over 60 countries.

* SciJinks (grades K-12) http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/en/educators DESCRIPTION: A NOAA/NASA sponsored site which contains posters, games, images, and classroom activities.

* Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) http://www.dlese.org DESCRIPTION: The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is a distributed community effort involving educators, students, and scientists working together to improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of teaching and learning about the Earth system at all levels.  DLESE supports Earth system science education by providing access to high-quality collections of educational resources,  access to Earth data sets and imagery, including the tools and interfaces that enable their effective use in educational settings,  support services to help educators and learners effectively create, use, and share educational resources,  and communication networks to facilitate interactions and collaborations across all dimensions of Earth system education. DLESE resources include electronic materials for both teachers and learners, such as lesson plans, maps, images, data sets, visualizations, assessment activities, curriculum, online courses, and much more.