Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.
This photo shows the Cuernos del Paine mountain range and Lake Pehoe in Chile.
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Image is in Public Domain

Climate Science from the Southeast Pacific - Educators' Page

As an educator, you have the challenging task of teaching content that is integrated into other content areas to many students at various learning levels. Hopefully, looking into the VOCALS campaign can help! The VOCALS campaign will study many different scientific areas and strive to answer many interrelated questions. It is an excellent example of teamwork by scientists, of the extensive planning that must go into experiments and campaigns, and the scientific process. You can use this campaign to talk about scientific instrumentation, geography, current climate research, and science as a career. Please refer your students to our Kids' page for more information, fun, and games. And use the following related Classroom Activities with your students.

Classroom Activities

Create Your Own Fog Uses inexpensive, easy-to-find materials!

The Difference Between Weather and Climate Includes graphing exercises!

Exploring Density with Salt and Fresh Water: Par 5 A fun activity that involves investigating the interaction between fresh water and salt water.

Introduction to Maps This quick lesson exposes students to a variety of types of maps.

Land Plan Challenge Emphasizes teamwork and how city planning affects the environment and the larger community.

Make a Classroom Map Students learn geographical skills of map making by constructing a map of their classroom.

The Scientist Project A great activity that introduces your class to many different scientists. Teamwork and creativity a must!

Temperature and the Earth's Atmosphere Interpret graphs to learn how temperature varies through the atmosphere.

Three Clouds Activity One captivating demonstration and two hands-on activities - all about clouds!

Using Current Event Articles in the Science Classroom Try these new ideas to get your students hooked on today's science!

Last modified October 1, 2008 by Jennifer Bergman.

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Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

What is VOCALS?

What if you wanted to learn more about the climate of a very large area of the world? What would be involved in studying how the oceans, land, and atmosphere interact? You would need to have a team of...more

Introduction to VOCALS Science

Scientists know that west coasts of Chile and Peru and the Southeastern Pacific Ocean are a very important part of the global climate system. However, they don't completely understand how the oceans, atmosphere,...more

The Scientific Process

How do scientists actually come up with explanations for the things that happen around us? The first step in this process happens when a scientist observes something happening that is both interesting...more

Southeast Pacific Climate

The Southeast Pacific Ocean region off the coastal areas of Peru and Chile is one part of the world where stratus and stratocumulus clouds are frequently present. Other areas include the subtropical climate...more

Satellites in the VOCALS Field Campaign

Scientists use lots of data from satellites in the VOCALS field campaign. They also gather data from instruments on ships and on airplanes. When they combine data from satellites, ships, and aircraft,...more

Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling in the Southeast Pacific

There are many connections between the ocean and the atmosphere in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. Strong winds blow north along the coast of South America. These winds stir up the ocean. That brings cold...more

Finding Water in the Sky

The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth. The lack of water makes life hard, yet more than a million people live there. One place where people get the water they need to survive is from...more

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