In this lesson, students will explore the weather phenomena El Niqo and La Niqa. They will learn about when and where these weather changes occur, and about the effects they have on everything in their wake.

Geography, earth science, social studies, english

Standard 1: "How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective"
Standard 11: "The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface"
Standard 15: "How physical systems affect human systems"

Two to three hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Blank Xpeditions outline maps of the world, one for each small group
• Writing and drawing materials
• Large sheets of paper and craft materials or computer program for creating Web pages

Students will

• identify the effects of El Niqo;
• pose hypotheses about the occurrence of natural events;
• identify relationships among patterns on a map; and
• write a newspaper article detailing the effects of El Niqo.

Read students the following summary:

Fishermen in the South American countries of Ecuador and Peru have noticed for centuries that an unusually warm ocean current occurs every few years around Christmas. They note the phenomenon because their nets come up empty; the fish that feed in the usually cold, nutrient-rich waters along the coast move or die as the sea-surface temperature rises. The animals that depend on the fish, such as sea lions, suffer along with the fishermen. This coastal warming, accompanied by heavy rains and flooding in the region, signifies the weather phenomenon called El Niqo—Spanish for "the Christ Child." El Niqo has worldwide effects. It is believed to be responsible for droughts in India and Africa, mild winters and flooding in parts of North America, fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic, and more typhoons in the Pacific. Another weather phenomenon, La Niqa, is El Niqo's terrible twin. La Niqa pushes warm surface water along the Pacific Equator farther west than usual, creating drought where El Niqo brought floods, and floods where El Niqo brought drought.

Have students form small groups. Explain to them that, in September 1997, the sea-surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific was the highest it has been in the last 50 years, and easterly winds had decreased. Ask the groups to brainstorm what global natural disasters they think would be apt to accompany the rise in temperature, and write down what they think would occur. (Tell them to include such events as droughts, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, and wildfires in their discussions.)

Now ask the groups to conduct some research on El Niqo and La Niqa to see whether what they predicted was correct. The following Web sites will get them started:

National Geographic: El Niqo and La Niqa—Nature's Vicious Cycle
CNN: El Niqo Returns
NASA: Making Sense of the Weather—El Niqo
NOAA El Niqo Page

Have students use their blank outline maps of the world to show the patterns of El Niqo and La Niqa in the world's oceans. Have them use different colors to represent warmer and cooler water, and arrows to represent the direction the water is moving.

Were students correct about their predictions? What did they learn about the El Niqo and La Niqa phenomena that surprised them?

Have the groups choose one event that was a manifestation of the 1998-1999 El Niqo. Then have them write a newspaper article about it. The article can be straight news, or a feature story about the effects of El Niqo.

Have students compile their articles into a special newspaper feature section on El Niqo. They can glue their articles onto large sheets of paper and add illustrations, or, if you have the resources, have them use a computer program such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage to create a Web site about El Niqo.

Have students write follow-up newspaper articles about the La Niqa phenomenon that occurred in 1998. What were its effects? How did it compare and contrast to El Niqo?

This lesson is made possible by a generous grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Sanctuary Program.

CNN: El Niqo Returns
NASA: Making Sense of the Weather—El Niqo
NOAA El Niqo Page
NOAA La Niqa Page
National Geographic: El Niqo and La Niqa—Nature's Vicious Cycle