BUFFALO, N.Y. — As students get ready to head back to school, teacher and parents will have a brand new resource to help them in and out of the classroom.
Last month NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, unveiled a new database as part of their "Back to School" initiative that features all kinds of resources for a wide variety of subjects and grade levels. The searchable database includes everything from lesson plans to actual NOAA research and data that can be put to use in the classroom.
There are also printable worksheets, coloring pages and posters for topics ranging from space weather to Great Lake ecology, all aspects under the NOAA umbrella. And the best part? All of these resources are free!
Ahead of the new school year Storm Team 2 Meteorologist Elyse Smith was able to talk to Bekkah Lampe, Outreach and Education Coordinator for NOAA Education. Bekkah spoke to the development of this database and the purpose it can serve in the classroom.
“NOAA really is a data collection agency and then we provide that data and information to anyone who wants to use it," said Lampe. "A lot of educators are having a lot of pressure to use more and more scientific data, and it can be really meaningful for students when they are looking at actual scientific data rather than modeled or information that’s been created for them. But in the real world, there are variables, there are things that change, so having that experience to look at our data from an educational lens is really helpful and really important.”