About the Seasons

Children learn how seasonal weather changes affect everything, from the behavior of animals to the way we dress and play.

20-Year Map of Global Rainfall

This visualization from NASA shows global rainfall patterns over a 22-year span. It incorporates data from a combination of remote-sensing and ground-based sources.

Alaska Native Pilots

In this video adapted from Storyknife Productions, Alaska Native pilots share how they use traditional knowledge to read the landscape and predict the weather.

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Alaska Native Ways of Knowing

In this media-rich lesson, students prepare classroom science fair projects that demonstrate the application of traditional knowledge to a scientific topic.

Antarctica's Dry Valleys

In this video segment produced by ThinkTV with the Byrd Polar Research Center, a young scientist describes her journey to the remote Dry Valleys of Antarctica and her search for life under some of the most extreme conditions on Earth.

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Antarctica: A Challenging Work Day

What happens when the ground under your feet is ice and it's moving? This video segment adapted from NOVA features some of the dangers faced by scientists conducting research in Antarctica.

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Antarctica: Sea Ice

This video segment adapted from NOVA uses microwave images to reveal how sea ice doubles the size of Antarctica each winter. Rare footage shows how sea ice crushed the famous ship Endurance in 1914.

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Arctic Haze

In this video segment adapted from KUAC, find out why the horizon in Alaska is sometimes shrouded in pollution and what it means for climate change in the Arctic.

Arctic Sea Ice Satellite Observations

In this interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain, learn how Arctic sea ice has changed over the past 25 years in terms of maximum winter extent, concentration, and the timing of breakup each spring.

Avalanche Town

The impact of natural disasters is made vivid in this video segment adapted from NOVA. A small town in Iceland, prepared for recurrent avalanches, is devastated when one takes a new and damaging path.

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Bianca Goes where the Wind Blows

In this video from Cyberchase, Bianca and Mikaela want to fly a kite, so Bianca creates a wind gauge to test the strength of the wind in various parts of the park.

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Biomes

This interactive resource adapted from NASA describes the different temperature, precipitation, and vegetation patterns in seven biomes: coniferous forest, temperate deciduous forest, desert, grassland, rainforest, shrubland, and tundra.

Chasing Tornadoes

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists are on the hunt for tornadoes. Using Doppler radar, they gather data in the hopes of solving the mystery of how tornadoes form.

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Climate Change

This video segment adapted from NOVA explains the difference between weather and climate and features groundbreaking analysis revealing that Earth's climate has changed much faster than previously believed.

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Climate Models

In this video by ThinkTV, explore the many uses of climate models and see a visualization of a global climate model. Models are tools scientists use to see patterns and trends.

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Clouds and Currents

Learn about cloud formations over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in this video from Nature.

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Clouds and Weather

Learn about different types of clouds and the weather they signal in this video featuring original stop-motion animation.

Cloud Types

This interactive resource, adapted from NASA's S'COOL Project Tutorial, explains how you can classify and identify various types of clouds.

Compare and Contrast Warm and Cold Fronts

This visualization from McDougal Littell/TERC visualizes the movement of warm and cold fronts and the cloud types that are generated as a result.

Convective Cloud Systems

This video segment adapted from the Atmospheric Radiation Program explains the differences in the formation of tropical convective cloud systems over islands and over the ocean.

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Dress for the Weather

Learn more about the seasons and help George dress for the right time of year with this interactive game.

Early Exploration of Antarctic Climate

In this interactive feature produced by ThinkTV, view historic photos of Admiral Byrd’s expeditions to Antarctica, where he was one of the first explorers and scientists to record weather and climate observations.

Earth's Cryosphere: Antarctica

Learn about the different features of snow and ice in Antarctica using satellite imagery in this video segment adapted from NASA.

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Earth System: Drought and Air Quality

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discusses how a drought can have negative effects locally, for example by increasing the number of forest fires, and also globally, for example by impacting air quality thousands of miles away.

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Earth System: El Niño's Influence on Hurricane Formation

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains how hurricanes develop and why there are fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean in strong El Niño years.

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The Effects of Global Warming in Alaska

In this media-rich lesson, students learn how global warming is changing the Alaskan environment and examine the consequences of climate change on the region's human and wildlife inhabitants.

Extreme Temperatures on the Moon

In this video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA, astronaut John Young experiences extreme temperatures on the Moon that are a result of the Moon's low gravity and lack of atmosphere.

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Finding the Dew Point

In this video from Cyberchase, the CyberSquad learns to keep track of both air temperature and humidity so they can predict when fog will appear.

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A Five-Day View of the Jet Stream

This animation from NOVA Online lets you examine a five-day view of the jet stream.

Giving Rise to the Jet Stream

This interactive activity from NOVA Online uses animation and graphics to offer a detailed explanation of the jet stream. A thorough account is given of the role played by the Sun's heat and Earth's shape and rotation, among other factors.

Global Warming Threatens Caribou

This video segment adapted from Arctic Mission presents the challenges faced by caribou herds unable to adapt to a warming climate.

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The Great Flood of 1993

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a meteorologist explains how an unusual weather pattern led to one of the most devastating floods of this century.

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How Do Avalanches Form?

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, dramatic footage of avalanches and animations of ice crystals illustrate how a layer of weakly-bonded snow can contribute to a devastating avalanche.

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How Do Tornadoes Form?

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists use computer simulations to explore the question of how supercell thunderstorms produce tornadoes.

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How Hurricanes Form

This animation from NASA illustrates the phases in the formation of a hurricane.

Hurricane Katrina: A Scientist's Response

In this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW, local officials, including scientist Ivor Van Heerden, share their responses to Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina: Possible Causes

This media-rich essay from NOVA scienceNow explores new research into hurricanes that may help explain Katrina's devastating impact and discusses the possibility that global warming played a role.

Hurricane Katrina: Wetland Destruction

Tour the wetlands south of New Orleans that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina in this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW.

Hurricanes: New Orleans Under Threat

This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW exposes how decades of development and geography combined to make the potential damage from a hurricane uniquely devastating in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Hurricanes: New Tools for Predicting

This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW features new advances in predicting the intensity of hurricanes.

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The Jet Stream and Horizontal Temperature Gradients

Explore and manipulate the relationship between wind speed and temperature gradients in this interactive activity adapted from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Kid Meteorologist

ZOOM guest Amy wants to be a meteorlogist and volunteers at a weather observatory. In this adapted video segment, she shows us instruments used to predict the weather and describes how air pressure affects weather patterns.

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Melting Ice

In this media-rich lesson, students explore the role that ice plays on Earth, the factors causing it to melt, and the local and global consequences of melting ice.

Mountain Weather

In this interactive activity from NOVA Online you can move an air mass over a mountain and see how several distinct microclimates are created.

Mountain Weather: A Climber's Story

In this video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA, a mountain climber's perilous journey reveals the extreme range of microclimates on Mount Kilimanjaro.

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Navajo Elders' Observations on Climate Change

In this video segment adapted from Navajo Technical College, hear about changes in climate and in the natural environment as observed by two Navajo Elders.

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Observations of Climate Change

In this media-rich self-paced lesson, students learn how data gathered through surveys with local residents and data collected by remote satellites are complementary tools that help deepen our understanding of the effects of climate change in the Arctic and elsewhere.

Observe Clouds

This video segment produced for Teachers' Domain features a time-lapse video of clouds forming, changing, and moving across the sky.

Observe Precipitation

In this video segment produced for Teachers' Domain, observe different types of precipitation — rain, hail, and snow.

Observing Changes in Snowfall

Learn how snowfall happening later in the year than usual is impacting cultural practices in this video segment about climate change adapted from the College of Menominee Nation.

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