Earth Now Monthly Climate Digest
http://sphere.ssec.wisc.edu/CIMSS, University of Wisconsin; CICS-MD, University of Maryland; NOAA Vizualization Lab
This monthly bulletin and animation provides regular and reliable visualizations of world weather and climate events of the previous month using NOAA data. Archives are available from October 2011 to present.
Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»
Middle School
Disciplinary Core Ideas: 3
MS-ESS2.D1: Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns.
MS-ESS2.D2: Because these patterns are so complex, weather can only be predicted probabilistically.
MS-ESS2.D3: The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents.
Cross Cutting Concepts: 2
Patterns, Cause and effect
MS-C1.4: Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data.
MS-C2.2: Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.
High School
Disciplinary Core Ideas: 2
HS-ESS2.D1: The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, as well as its reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and this energy’s re-radiation into space.
HS-ESS2.D4: Current models predict that, although future regional climate changes will be complex and varied, average global temperatures will continue to rise. The outcomes predicted by global climate models strongly depend on the amounts of human-generated greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere each year and by the ways in which these gases are absorbed by the ocean and biosphere.
Cross Cutting Concepts: 2
Patterns, Cause and effect
HS-C1.5: Empirical evidence is needed to identify patterns.
HS-C2.1: Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
Climate Literacy
This Animation builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- Bulletin provides good visualizations that could be returned to on a regular basis for updates as some data will, of course, carry over from one month to the next.
- Educator could present this to watch as a class or as homework to introduce ideas.
- As several months are generally available, students could be asked to highlight comparisons or variations between the months. Bulletins could also be followed throughout a year to see how events shift over time, allowing predictions by students or narrator/NOAA (such as in the case of ENSO) to be tested.
About the Content
- The bulletin is updated monthly with data on world weather and climate events of the previous month.
- Several timely weather and climate feature stories have also been produced to assist SOS (Science on a Sphere) facilitators making connections between current events and global change.
About the Pedagogy
- A narrator explains what each globe represents and how to understand the visual data.
- The narration of these visualizations provides excellent auditory scaffolding.
- Lesson plans and educator support is not provided, but there are ample of additional resources, links, etc. available.
Technical Details/Ease of Use
- Internet connection required.
- Website and information are of high quality and easy to access.
See how this Animation supports the Next Generation Science Standards»
