State Climate Office of North Carolina

Students of all ages will enjoy learning about North Carolina's climate, whether on a field trip or in their classroom. Topics include extreme weather records, drought, tornadoes, El Nino and La Nina, hurricanes and North Carolina, and much more.

Preview your trip on the web: State Climate Office of North Carolina

Learn more

• U.S. Climate at a Glance This site provides national, regional, statewide and city precipitation and temperature data in line chart, bar chart, or table form.
• Climate Kids Want to play the Hurricane Name Game or learn how to make a barometer? The site includes activities, games, and educational resources on climate, hurricanes, tornadoes, weather trivia and more.
• Lesson plan: Creative climates In this Xpeditions activity, students pretend they are head of a new National Geographic Climate Observation Post, where they must create a Climate Map to illustrate the world's various climate zones. This and other weather-related activities illustrate the world's diverse climate zones and illustrate how climate affects human life.
• Lesson plan: Weather and agriculture Students will research, discuss, and write reports on the relationship between climate and agriculture. They will pretend that they've just purchased farms in specific parts of the United States and will investigate that region's weather and climate in order to maximize the chances that their farms will succeed.
• Lesson plan: Weather complaints Students will refer to a climate map to predict what the climate might be like in specified United States cities.

Related pages

• Hurricanes: Each year from June through October, the eastern seaboard prepares itself for the possibility of hurricanes. With so much attention in the media focused on these mighty storms, your students are sure to be interested in the science and history behind hurricanes. Prepare yourself in the classroom with these virtual field trips, lesson plans, and interactive websites.
• National Weather Service - Raleigh: The Raleigh office of the National Weather Service offers tours to middle and high school student groups. The website provides local weather and hurricane data.
• Be the meteorologist: Students use internet data to plot the path of a hurricane over several days. At designated points, students will decide which areas of the coast to put under a hurricane warning and will justify their decisions. This lesson uses real weather data and allows students to "be the meteorologist."

Related topics

• Learn more about North Carolina, Wake County, barometric pressure, dew point, heat index, humidity, meteorology, precipitation, science, state government, storms, weather, and wind chill.

Legal

This is the primary source for NC weather and climate information. Located in the Research III Building on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University, the State Climate Office is actively involved in all aspects of climate research, education, and extension services. Its mission is to provide climate related services to the state, local and federal agencies, businesses and the citizens of North Carolina.

The State Climate Office offers field trips to student groups and also gives presentations at schools. Contact Ryan Boyles at: ryan_boyles@ncsu.edu or call 919-515-3056 for more information.

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