North Carolina Science Olympiad
Coaches Institute
Ashley Frazier and Heather Dinon
State Climate Office of North Carolina
Meteorology Event: Climate and Climate Change
Participants
will demonstrate a multidisciplinary understanding of the earth and
planetary systems that influence the Earth’s
climate
Emphasis
will be placed on understanding how
these systems are impacting climate change,
past and present, on our planet
Meteorology Event: Climate and Climate Change
Teams
will be composed of no more than 2
participants
Each
team may bring one 8.5” x 11” two-sided
sheet of paper with any information from any
source
Each
participant may bring a non-graphing
calculator, but no other resources
Meteorology Event: Climate and Climate Change
Topics




may include, but are not limited to:
Composition and evolution of Earth’s atmosphere
Weather versus climate
Solar radiation and Earth’s energy balance
Climatic zones, with emphasis on how the Koppen
classification can be used to understand climate
change
Meteorology Event: Climate and Climate Change
Topics





continued:
Natural climatic variability, with emphasis on how
it might affect climate change
Oceanic and atmospheric circulations, and their
impact on climate and climate change
Earth’s celestial cycles
Paleoclimate of Earth’s geologic history
Human impact on climate change
Resources
Science Olympiad Earth Science Resource
Meteorology Today: An Introduction to
CD
Weather, Climate, and the Environment by C.
Donald Ahrens
Meteorology: The Atmosphere and the
Science of Weather by Joseph M. Moran and
Michael D. Morgan
Resources
 http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/dstreme/
 http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/home.rxml
 http://www.comet.ucar.edu/
 http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/higher/climat
e_change.html
 http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/
models/carbon_cycle/
 http://www.project2061.org/publications/guides/clima
te.pdf
What can each team expect at the tournament?
12 stations, with 13 “mock” stations
Each station will contain a copy of a
test with
various climate questions, broken down by topic
While at “mock” stations, teams will have the
opportunity to work on tie-breaker questions
Teams will have approximately 2 minutes at
each station before rotating to another
But enough talking…
…let’s do it!