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Website
USA Today

Usa Today: El Nino and La Nina

For Students 9th - 10th
USA Today presents a regularly updated archive of El Nino and La Nina stories, descriptions, and overviews. An excellent resource to learn what these storms are, how they began, and their onging history.
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Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: El Nino and It's Impact on the World

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The activity takes a hands-on approach to understanding El Nino by physically showing and feeling this weather phenomenon. It consists of an El Nino demo as well as an experiment to be conducted by the students themselves.
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Interactive
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center: Forces of Change:el Nino

For Students 9th - 10th
As the Western Pacific Ocean warms weather changes around the world. This interactive site provides information about El Nino, including what it is, its history and the power of its reach around the world.
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Website
NASA

Nasa: El Nino

For Students 3rd - 5th
A concise explanation of El Nino. Discusses global wind patterns and ocean temperatures. Offers interactive weather-related learning activities.
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Website
NOAA

Noaa: Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory: What Is El Nino?

For Students 9th - 10th
This page tells you what El Nino is, provides links to animations and videos on El Nino, explains how to recognize El Nino, and discusses the history of significant El Nino events.
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Website
NOAA

Noaa: Pmel: El Nino Theme Page

For Students 3rd - 8th
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sponsors this El Nino and La Nina resource site that features current and historic information about these weather systems with diagrams.
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Website
Other

Niwa: El Nino and La Nina

For Students 9th - 10th
A webpage discussing the global climate systems of El Nino and La Nina. Learn that these weather patterns are "ocean warming" events that are global climate fluctuations that cause major changes in the Pacific atmospheric and ocean...
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Website
NOAA

Noaa: The Atmosphere During El Nino

For Students 9th - 10th
This page explains in detail what happens in the atmosphere during El Nino.
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Unit Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: Investigating El Nino Using Real Data

For Students 9th - 10th
A sequence of five online activities focusing on the El Nino climate variability. The focus of the activities is on accessing and manipulating real data to help students understand El Nino as an interaction of Earth systems.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: El Nino

For Students 9th - 10th
You can link to the anatomy of El Nino, chasing El Nino, and El Nino's reach. There is a resource page and a search page.
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Unit Plan
Center for Educational Technologies

Exploring the Environment El Nino: The Child Returns

For Students 9th - 10th
Use remote sensing data and background information to look at regional and global consequences of El Nino. Try working with the 'situation' to test your understanding.
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Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Earth System: El Nino

For Students 9th - 10th
This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center details some of El Nino's far-reaching effects on both marine life and humans. [2:44]
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Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Earth System: El Nino's Influence on Hurricane Formation

For Students 9th - 10th
This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains how and where hurricanes develop. Learn how El Nino events alter the course of atmospheric circulation. Includes background reading material and discussion...
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Website
NOAA

Noaa: El Nino and Climate Change

For Students 9th - 10th
A White House announcement on the effect of El Nino on world climate.
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Lesson Plan
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ucar: El Nino Teaching Box

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This Teaching Box combines readings and activities to build student understanding of the changes that happen during an El Nino event.
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Article
NASA

Nasa: Polar Ice and Its Possible Effects on the Earth

For Students 3rd - 5th
This article describes the effects of polar ice caps on the Earth and offers explanations as to the possible effects of polar ice melting on sea level and temperature.
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Website
University of California

Sio/ El Nino

For Students 9th - 10th
This page has links to the causes of El Nino, a non-technical definition of El Nino, causes, and tons of other information.
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Website
University of California

Earthguide: El Nino: Illustrating the Concept

For Students 3rd - 8th
Do you know what happens during a typical El Nino? This overview provides a description, characteristics, and animated maps showing sea surface temperature changes during past El Nino events.
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Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Detecting El Nino in Sea Surface Temperature Data

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Through data analysis and observations of patterns, students learn about normal seasonal sea surface temperature variation as well as extreme variation, as in the case of El Nino and La Nina events, in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
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Article
Society for Science and the Public

Science News for Students: Earth Breaks Heat Record for Third Year Straight

For Students 9th - 10th
Climate change and heat from a strong El Nino played roles in making 2016 the hottest year on record. Understand the specific impacts of climate change.
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Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: Ocean Impacts on an El Nino Event

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students examine the relationships among sea surface height, sea surface temperature, and wind vectors in classifying the ocean characteristics of an El Nino.
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Article
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Resources for Learning: The Path to El Nino

For Students 3rd - 8th
Through this resource, students explore the history, causes, effects, and patterns of El Nino.
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Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Impacts of El Nino and La Nina

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Learners explore NOAA and the Climate Data Center to gather data about El Nino. Then they interpret a series of maps to describe the key changes in climate conditions during El Nino and La Nina.
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Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Earth Science: Short Term Climate Change

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How El Nino and La Nina affect the climate.