Summarizes the recommendations of the Lightning Safety Group (LSG), which was first convened during the 1998 American Meteorological Society Conference. Findings outline appropriate actions under various circumstances when lightning threatens. (WRM)

Stresses the importance of planning ahead for rainy day activities at camp. Suggested outdoor activities include learning to build a fire in the rain, dam building, canoe puzzles, and holey garbage-can fill; indoor activities include crafts, pass the present, human game pieces, and opportunities for cabin groups to plan and host a fun activity.…

Presents activities to stimulate student interest in nature. Includes activity ideas to learn about birds, astronomy, weather, wildlife, and water resources. Also contains contact information for four agencies that provide additional activities. (MKR)

Shows how one of his ruling passions, the weather, led a teenage boy to engage in a variety of reading practices (and associated writing practices) in a variety of semiotic modes, drawing in different ways on numeracy knowledge. Concludes by arguing that both research on multi-modality and the New Literacy Studies point in a similar direction:…

In this article, the author discusses disaster-recovery planning in light of his personal experience following Hurricane Katrina. He relates the advice he received from Captain Joseph R. Castillo, Chief of Operations for the U.S. Coast Guard Eighth District in New Orleans: Focus on the process of planning, and not on building a plan. The author…

As congressional Democrats declared last week that federal efforts to help Gulf Coast schools with hurricane recovery aren't working, school officials from the region hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year urged lawmakers to provide more regulatory flexibility and more money. On April 26, 2006, House Democrats released a report criticizing…

Social studies teachers are constantly seeking ways to connect the past with the present, the near with the far, the familiar with the esoteric. One of the most powerful ways to create such connections is through the integration of current events into social studies lessons (Silverman 2003; Turner 1995). Current events promote students' oral and…

The goal of this study was to examine the relations among various meteorological conditions, affective states and behavior in young children. Results from past research have revealed many weather effects on behavior and emotions with adult samples. However, there is a paucity of empirical evidence to support this link with children. Thirty-three…

Collecting weather data is a traditional part of a meteorology unit at the middle level. However, making connections between the data and weather conditions can be a challenge. One way to make these connections clearer is to enter the data into a database. This allows students to quickly compare different fields of data and recognize which…

In this article, the author shares her experience in successfully teaching elementary students how to create a tornado using a guided-inquiry approach. The guided-inquiry approach is a form of teaching in which the teacher poses the question, but lets the students decide how to answer the question. Students were so excited about the process they…

Problem-based learning experiences that extend at least two weeks provide an opportunity for students to investigate a real-world problem while learning science content and skills in an exciting way. In this article, students are challenged by the president of the United States to serve as employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to…

Scientists have associated the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon with extreme climate events such as flooding in California, droughts in Australia, fires in Indonesia, and increased hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean. The popular media is constantly attributing individual storms to the ENSO phenomenon. The reality is that a…

The theme of this symposium was "Opening the Doors to the Future: Education in the Classroom and Beyond." Presentations, both oral and poster, are devoted to both K-12 and university educational issues in meteorological and oceanographic education. Oral presentations include: (1) "The Bachelor's Degree in Atmospheric Science-Revision of the 1987…

The influence of atmospheric conditions and the day of the week on school children's behavior was investigated by undergraduates. The college students were told either that their participation in the research was compulsory and would be graded, or that their participation was voluntary and ungraded. Fifty teachers observed their pupils' behavior…