Steps 1-10
| 1: Introduction | 6: Glossary | |
| 2: History | 7: Interactive | |
| 3: Impacts | 8: Quiz | |
| 4: Forecasting | 9: More Info | |
| 5: Interviews | 10: Suggestions |
El Nino is a weather phenomenon that hits the world every two to seven years, and this section describes El Nino, how it comes about, and gives a background of El Nino. This is a good place to start because it will give students a good idea of what El Nino is and how it is caused. Below are some lesson plans you can use to give a good background of El Nino.
Believe it or not, this was not the first El Nino to hit us. This history explanation travels through the naming and discovery of El Nino, and highlights some important events from throughout history.
Lesson Plan #1: History Lesson
El Nino always has a deep impact on people, especially when the storm is severe. Since this storm was hyped as "The Storm of the Century," it is important to record the impacts it has had on people all over the world.
Lesson Plan #1: Divide and Conquer
To plan out your day, it is important to know what the weather is going to be like because it affects so many things. This section focuses not only on forecasting the weather, but also on studying the weather. Take your students on a tour of the National Weather Service, have them add weather stories, and even have them build their own weather station. With their own weather station, they can record the weather and use the information to forecast the weather.
Lesson Plan #1: News Center (Elementary Students)
Lesson Plan #2: Weather Center (High School Students)
First-hand accounts are the best way to find something out about any topic. People all over the world were affected by El Nino, and in this section a few people describe, in their own words, the impacts the weather phenomenon has had.
Lesson Plan #1: El Nino Interviewing
Lesson Plan #2: Interviewing A Friend
Lesson Plan #3: Interviewing To Learn
Since all kinds of weather, not just El Nino, affect people, we have included a glossary of weather terms for your convenience. In each portion, there is background information and some simple experiments. Use the experiments to help explain a weather concept you are teaching in your class, or the background information for a quick way to find the important facts. If in any of these glossary terms we're missing a great experiment you have used with your experiment, be sure to e-mail the directions and we'll add it with your name.
There are many chances to interact on this site. It is really neat to see your own work published on the web, so encourage students to take advantage of the opportunities and add their thoughts. Visitors can add personal stories about how El Nino affected them, weather tales, or add articles about an El Nino topic they have researched. Also, visitors can upload a glossary topic (see above), or interviews of people affected by El Nino. Your class could even compile a section on how your country or state was affected (if not listed) or send us more information about your country or state (if it is listed). Learning is much more fun when students can get involved.
Nobody likes tests: The pressure. The fear of failure. But since this quiz doesn't really matter for anything, it is a lot more fun to take. Students (and other visitors, as well) can take the quiz and see what they learned from visiting our site. If they don't know the answer to a question, they will realize they missed something in the site. Also, they can see how they compare to other visitors who took the quiz before them.
I'm sorry to have to say it, but there is more to weather and El Nino than meets the eye. Books and the Internet are filled with information on these subjects. So, we're making your search easier. With a free-for-all link page filled with El Nino links, and a bibliography with our resources, you'll have a great list to work from in your quest for knowledge. Set your students loose on the web to search for El Nino links that we missed (they can add them to the links page).
Every teacher has a different style, and we want to hear yours. If you have an idea for a lesson plan using our site, please don't hesitate to e-mail us the information. We'd love to add it (and give you credit, of course).