AMS WEATHER, OCEAN, AND CLIMATE STUDIES: INNOVATIVE USE OF REAL-WORLD DATA TO TEACH GEOSCIENCE IN K-16

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) has been a leader in the development of innovative undergraduate geoscience curriculum since 1996. Working closely with college and university faculty, and with support from NSF, NOAA, and NASA, AMS Ocean Studies, AMS Climate Studies, and AMS Weather Studies have been successfully adopted by more than 650 institutions. Applications with relevant and real-world ocean, climate, and weather data keep students engaged and excited.

The courses are structured to be easily adaptable to traditional, hybrid or online instructional settings. Course materials consist of a fully-integrated set of printed and online learning materials including a comprehensive textbook, Investigations Manual, a course website, and faculty resources. Instructors can use these materials in any combination that best suits their instructional goals.

Updated annually, the Investigations Manual contains 30 laboratory activities, two per textbook chapter, and connects with an optional third online component, Current Ocean/Climate/Weather Studies, via the course website. Current Studies lessons reference recent events, such as the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami, to offer engaging classroom topics and use data from NOS, NWS, IPCC reports, and other lead scientific organizations. Foundational scientific concepts are demonstrated by using the most recent datasets available. The course website provides links to numerous external sources, as well as geoscience career path information.

AMS courses can be offered by experienced science faculty or those new to teaching the subject matter. A simple licensing procedure allows for full institutional access.

Central to AMS’ goal is course implementation at minority serving institutions (MSIs). AMS, with Second Nature, will be offering NSF-supported AMS Climate Studies Diversity Project in May 2012. AMS will introduce Climate Studies to 100 MSIs over the upcoming four years, expanding their geoscience offerings.

These materials are also used in DataStreme Atmosphere, DataStreme Ocean, and DataStreme Earth’s Climate System. These online K-12 teacher professional development courses provide content training and pedagogical inquiry for classroom application. To date, more than 16,500 U.S. teachers have been trained in the geosciences through these courses.