Student ActivityOverview
This is an inquiry-based lesson using Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data from the NOAA/NESDIS website and other related sites. This lesson will help students understand and predict El Niño and La Niña events using SST anomaly data.Goals
In this lesson, you will:
- Develop questions and identify concepts that guide scientific investigations,
- Design and conduct scientific investigation,
- Use technology to improve investigations and communications,
- Analyze images, maps and charts to predict and understand climatic events
Explanation of Questions
This lesson is designed to help you create a hypothesis, research it, and make a conclusion about El Niño and La Niña predictions. You can do this by using the NOAA/NESDIS website to help you find data for research. Your teacher will help to guide you in the appropriate direction by helping your group create a valid hypothesis, discover the best methods to research your hypothesis, and show you ways to find appropriate data to support your hypothesis. This lesson will give you a few examples of questions and supporting data so that you can come up with questions and supporting data of your own.
Take a look at these examples to help you form a valid hypothesis about sea surface temperature and its relationship to predicting El Niño and La Niña events. All links will open in a new window.
Questions
All links open in a new window.1. Observe the most recent 2-month SST animation. What regions throughout the oceans appear to be warmer or colder than normal?
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/sst_anomaly_2m.html2. Now look at the most recent 6-month SST animation. Do you notice any regions that may have warmer or colder SST’s occurring over time? Do these differences relate to seasonal changes?
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/sst_anomaly_6m.html3. Observe the change in SST off of the west coast of South America near Peru and Ecuador. What changes do you notice in SST's over a 4-month period? Is there any evidence that may show an El Niño or La Niña event occurring?
http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/sst_anomaly_4m.html4. Look at the data of the months for May 1997 through to March 1998. What do you see happening to the SST's over this 10-month period? Is there any evidence that may show an El Niño or La Niña event occurring here too?
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/al_climo.html5. Using the same data, can you find any other anomalies? Can you find any other El Niño or La Niña events? If so, where and when do these events occur?
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/al_climo.htmlMore Questions To Think About
1. Observe the current daily and nighttime SST anomaly charts. Do you notice any differences between SST at different times of the day. Why or why not?
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/climo.html2.Compare the current Coral Reef Hotspots with the current daily SST anomaly charts. Are there any correlations between the location of hotspots and SST?
Experimental Coral Bleaching Hotspots
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/climohot.htmlExperimental Daily SST Anomaly charts
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/climo.html3. Look at the various SST images during El Niño years. Which regions do you think could potentially be coral reef bleaching hotspots?
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/al_climo.html
