NESDIS education strives to provide educational material for teachers nationwide. Our goal is to help students understand the science behind satellite data and its impact on our world. Use the engaging educational resources, games, simulations, and videos below to help inspire the next generation of scientists.
Educational Resources Directory
A monsoon is a shift in winds that often causes a very rainy season or a very dry season. Although monsoons are usually associated with parts of Asia, they can happen in many tropical and subtropical regions – including several locations in the United States.
This simulation was adapted from the “Tornadoes!" WebApp Courtesy of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS).
North America is home to several different climate types. That means the continent is also home to a variety of extreme weather events.
All thunderstorms need the same ingredients: moisture, unstable air and lift. Moisture usually comes from oceans. Unstable air forms when warm, moist air is near the ground and cold, dry air is above. Lift comes from differences in air density. It pushes unstable air upward, creating a tall thunderstorm cloud.
A dust storm is a wall of dust and debris that is blown into an area by strong winds from thunderstorms. The wall of dust created by a dust storm can be miles long and several thousand feet high.
A wildfire--or multiple wildfires in the same area--can cause a firestorm. A firestorm occurs when heat from a wildfire creates its own wind system. This phenomenon can lead to very strange weather effects.
In this game, use your power as an updraft to separate the positive and negative charges to create some lightning of your own!
When you see rain or snow fall from above, you’re watching precipitation in action! Where does precipitation come from and why does it fall in different forms?
