Capturing the Wind

Ground-truthing ... is it even a word? The last installment of a five-part series analyzes how scientists collect sea surface temperature data. Scholars use government websites to compare temperature data collected directly from buoys...

The next time you read a magazine or watch the news, make note of how many graphs you see because they are everywhere! Here, scholars collect, enter, and graph data using computers. The graphs are then analyzed to aid in discussion of...

Evaluate global temperature anomalies using real-world data from NASA! Climatologists analyze a data set using a literacy cube and differentiated question sheets. Team members evaluate global temperature anomaly data with basic...

Scientists monitor seasonal changes in plants to better understand their responses to climate change, in turn allowing them to make predictions regarding the future. The last activity in the series of six has scholars analyze BudBurst...

What do lemurs do best? They move! Lemurs like to jump, run, hop, and climb and it's your class's job to document seven fun lemur behaviors. The class starts by discussing why lemurs are considered primates, and then they isolate seven...

Let's go fly a kite. By flying a kite, class members observe the difference in air flow. The class notices the characteristics of banners tied to the kite string to determine where wind turbulence stops. Adding an anemometer to measure...

Young scholars learn about wind at different altitudes above the earth. For this wind lesson plan, students use kites or balloons with attached streamers to observe the wind speed, wind turbulence and shear at different elevations. Young...

When earth scientists or mini meteorologists are learning about wind, they can participate in an engineering activity in which they will design and construct an anemometer. A thorough overview of different types of anemometers is...

Beginning with a discussion about using technology to collect data, this resource includes a video about the next Mars rover as an example. Young scientists are taught that filtering is necessary before collected data can be analyzed....

Students analyze data they have collected themselves and by their classmates. In groups, they create data distributions to identify the highest, lowest and middle values. As a class, they discuss the concept of sample size and how it can...