Back to school NOAA graphic. (Kaleigh Ballantine/NOAA Education)
Are you a teacher or educator looking for resources for the new school year ahead? Our resource database, NOAA Sea to Sky, can help you quickly find lesson plans, videos, data resources, activities, and more created by NOAA and our partners.
Not sure where to start? Here are some resources we think are a must-have for the classroom this year.
Newsworthy topics
Who are El Niño and La Niña and why should you care? Don’t let the names fool you, these cyclical climate patterns have big impacts on the weather worldwide. Read about current events and forecasts from Climate.gov’s ENSO Blog.
NOAA identifies areas to consider for national marine sanctuary designation through the community-based Sanctuary Nomination Process. Review the nominations and designations — is there (or could there be) a national marine sanctuary near you?
July 2023 brought record-high temperatures and devastating floods across the U.S. There’s also been a record number of billion-dollar disasters so far this year.
Download and visualize real-time and historic sea surface temperature and marine heat wave data.
An annular solar eclipse will occur on October 14, 2023, and on April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, United States, and Canada. Help your students understand the science behind the phenomena using these solar eclipse simulations and don’t miss the art, citizen science, and classroom activities in the Celestial Dance: The 2023 & 2024 Solar Eclipses SOS playlist!
Due in part to the impacts of climate change, there is no longer an official “fire weather season,” as wildfires now occur year-round in the U.S. Travel to the frontlines of a wildfire with NOAA Incident Meteorologists and learn how experts forecast, prepare for, and fight wildfires.
Lessons and activities
Data in the Classroom translates data into understandable and engaging resources for scientists of all ages! Data in the Classroom lessons foster collaboration and understanding for advancing environmental research.
Did you know that NOAA has partnered with Nautilus Live and Schmidt Ocean Institute to create the Deep Ocean Education Project? Find lessons like this one on hydrothermal vent communities and much more!
This module explores sea level rise, its causes, and impacts; and challenges students to think about what they can do in response to a changing climate.
This educator’s guide includes eight elementary school level lessons, inspired by topics from the IMAX film Ocean Odyssey and many NOAA mission critical areas.
Learn all about community resilience in the face of environmental hazards with this climate resilience activity book. Even though these climate and weather events can be scary, there is so much that can be done in a community to make it better able to handle these challenges and recover more quickly.
In the database: More about climate resiliency and mitigation
This 15-lesson curriculum helps students learn the different types of plastics and marine debris, their impact on marine and freshwater ecosystems, and ways to address and prevent plastic pollution.
In the database: More about ocean pollution and marine debris
Interactives
Join NOAA as we explore the deep ocean in the North Atlantic. You and your students can follow along with a live video stream during most of August.
Scroll back and forth through time using the image sequences found in Visible and Infrared Imagery, Colorized Infrared, and Water Vapor Imagery. These simple interfaces allow a focused view of weather development over the continental United States.
A spherical projection is the best way to view Earth data, and now students can build their own paper sphere of some of our most popular datasets. This hands-on activity allows students to explore real data around the globe.
See Science On A Sphere (SOS) datasets in a whole new view! The visualizations show information provided by satellites, ground observations, and computer models on a flat-screen virtual globe version of SOS.
These interactive, problem-centered investigations challenge high school students to use real data and models to explore human-caused changes in ocean ecosystems.
The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations maintains and operates a fleet of specialized research vessels and aircraft. Get to know NOAA’s ships and planes with these virtual trading cards!
Connect with NOAA
Did you know that the National Weather Service (NWS) can virtually visit your classroom and talk with your students? The NWS National School Outreach team is ready to answer weather-related questions!
Tour NOAA Boulder virtually or in-person, explore teacher resources, and even be a scientist for a day through videos, activities, and more!
NOAA has hundreds of facilities and professional communicators across the globe. Get connected to NOAA guest speakers, field trips, and professional development in your area.
NOAA has opportunities for students of any level — from kindergarten through high school, undergraduate and graduate, and even recent graduates. Explore the new database today!
Looking for field experience, conferences, or teacher development events? Find information about educational opportunities that are available to educators through NOAA.
Want to get involved in scientific processes? With citizen science projects, you and your students can collect and interpret data that will be used to help better understand our Earth and Earth systems.