About every two to seven years, the westward-blowing Pacific trade winds diminish. Without these winds, warm water piles up off the coast of Peru instead of the coast of Indonesia. Rainfall and weather patterns change, first in the Pacific and eventually globally, signally that an El Niņo has arrived. Seemingly unconnected events — floods in California, drought in Africa, fewer hurricanes in the Caribbean — can be directly or indirectly linked to El Niņo.
The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History has created El Niņo's Powerful Reach, a compelling new exhibit that explores the El Niņo phenomenon and puts it into historical and cultural context. The exhibit draws on cutting edge space-based observations being conducted at the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) and scientific research being conducted within the Smithsonian and other educational institutions around the globe. El Niņo's Powerful Reach builds a better understanding of the dynamic interrelationships of Earth's four components — land, air, water, and life — and demonstrates how their effects are felt around the globe.
This collection of educational activities is designed to bring the museum exhibition into your home or classroom. These activities reference materials included within the exhibit and the exhibit's computer interactive. However, these activities can all be completed without visiting the physical museum exhibit. The lesson plans are designed to be interdisciplinary, interactive and fun, to assist you and your students in increasing your knowledge and understanding about El Niņo, scientific inquiry, and the forces interacting on our planet. Each activity is designed to meet specific National Science and Geography Educational Standards. Each activity is also completely independent and can be used individually or in combination with the other activities and the exhibit information available on our web site. It is our hope that use of these activities inspires you, your families, and your students to learn more about science and our dynamic planet.
Participants learn the definition of an El Niņo by exploring sea surface temperature charts.
Grade Level:
Upper primary (grades 4-6)
Intermediate (grades 7-8)
Secondary (grades 9-12)
Participants learn how El Niņo’s form and the effect El Niņo has on global wind patterns.
Grade Level:
Primary (grades 4-6)
Intermediate (grades 7-9)
Participants learn that El Niņo is not a recent phenomenon, but is a natural cyclical occurrence which has left thousands of years of evidence.
Grade Level:
Intermediate (grades 5-8)
Secondary (grades 9-12)
4. Weird and Wacky World-Wide Weather
Participants learn the variety of effects that occur as a result of El Niņo.
Grade Level:
Intermediate (grades 5-8)
Secondary (grades 9-12)
Participants learn how El Niņo data is collected
Grade Level:
Intermediate (grades 5-8)
Secondary (grades 9-12)
Participants learn what an upwelling is and how a change in sea temperature affects the upwelling.
Grade Level:
Intermediate (grades 5-8)
Secondary (grades 9-12)
Participants learn how El Niņo events are predicted.
Grade Level:
Intermediate (grades 5-8)
Secondary (grades 9-12)
Participants work with global and national maps and try predicting future El Niņo events.
Grade Level:
Intermediate (grades 5-8)
Secondary (grades 9-12)