Creator: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (U.S. Gov.) | visit site
Grade Range: 1 - 11
This interactive weather map of the U.S., Mexico and Canada allows you to mouse over any location to see current conditions including temperature, wind chill, visibility, dew point, etc. Most "dots" are local airports. With a click on the desired station, a history of the current weather conditions for the last few days pops up, showing the information in a linear table. In addition, there are graphs above the table of temperature/dewpoint and relative humidity. Under other tabs on this page are aerial weather information observations, forecasts, and other more technical weather information. This is a great source for seeing a variety of graphs and their practical applications.
In the Classroom
Use this site as an introduction to study of graphs, meteorology, and information application. Aspiring meteorologists will find plenty of new vocabulary to learn here. To show what they have learned from this site, challenge students to create an online graphic to share using DesignBold, reviewed here. Remember that you can always take screenshots of a map using PrtScrn key in Windows (then paste it where you want it) or using Command+Shift+4 on a Mac to save the image on your computer. Use the screenshots in explanations and presentations.
At Home
Use this site to decide, with your student, what appropriate clothing would be for each day’s outings, and to look at the forecasts in a different way from those shown on TV.
Tags
weather, graphing, charts and graphs,
Subjects
Earth Science/Geology, Geography (US/World), Math, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies,