In this article, the authors present an inquiry-based approach to facilitate student understanding of the differences among common cloud descriptive characteristics through the use of a semi-dichotomous key developed by a former West Virginia state climatologist. The authors also demonstrate how students can analyze common class data sets that…

A majority of secondary science teachers are found to include the topic of climate change in their courses. However, teachers informally and sporadically discuss climate change and students rarely understand the underlying scientific concepts. The project team developed an innovative pedagogical approach, in which teachers and students learn…

Weather is a topic that occurs many times in the standard course of study (NRC 1996) from elementary school through high school. The activity described in this article allows students to collect data on the questions that interest them about the weather, and learn from their peers about a range of other questions that were investigated. No matter…

Presents adaptations and tests undertaken to allow an information retrieval system to forecast the likelihood of avalanches on a particular day; the forecasting process uses historical data of the weather and avalanche conditions for a large number of days. Describes a method for adapting these data into a form usable by a text-based IR system and…

This paper contains sample exercises that investigate weather and air quality relationships for use in college-level introductory courses in climatology and meteorology. The exercises will provide students with an opportunity to apply meteorological principles to a specific geographic location, in an effort to better understand the significant…

Precipitation data for Macomb (Illinois) for the period 1912-1981 were the bases for developing classroom exercises that offered college students experience in collecting such data. After students collected the data, they reduced them to manageable proportions, and then examined average long-term relations which may have emerged among yearly,…