At CIRES, the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences, more than 800 scientists work to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people’s relationship with the planet. CIRES is a partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado Boulder, and our areas of expertise include weather and climate including impacts to wildfire and water, changes at Earth’s poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences and more.
CIRES has been facilitating collaboration between CU Boulder and NOAA since 1967. We support NOAA’s mission by furthering Earth system and other environmental research that crosscuts traditional scientific fields. CIRES helps strengthen the scientific foundation upon which NOAA’s environmental intelligence services depend, and our partnership with the agency allows coordinated studies on a scale that could not be undertaken by the university or NOAA alone.
Visit our website for more information and additional resources welcome | CIRES (colorado.edu)
This lesson has students create a hands-on model that accurately explains seasonal changes on Earth and develop knowledge of the Sun-Earth system.
In this lesson, students investigate the life history characteristics of different Antarctic penguin species and identify the changes that their populations have experienced.
In this lesson, students explore how human activities will continue to impact Antarctic ice, discuss human contributions to climate change, and investigate what we can do to stop/reverse these negative effects.
This lesson has students explore how the gases trapped in ice cores over the last quarter of a century can be used to understand how Earth's atmosphere has changed in the past.
This activity will challenge students thinking about the nature of science and highlight the importance of both basic and applied scientific research.
This lesson explores if it is normal that world temperatures are rising at the currently observed fast pace.
In this lesson, students learn about some of the early explorations of the Northwest Passage, and how the changing sea ice extent has prompted new explorations of this region to transport goods from one region of the Northern Hemisphere to another.
This module teaches students about ozone’s role in the atmosphere and explores authentic data to compare and contrast conditions that affect ground-level ozone values.
This lesson is focused on the short-term cycling of carbon and is designed to put the processes of photosynthesis and respiration within a global perspective.
During this activity students will learn how to estimate population size using two techniques, density extrapolation and the mark-recapture method.
Students apply their knowledge of the water cycle to investigate how annual precipitation patterns are related to geography and biology.
In the final lesson of the SDO curriculum, student teams collaborate to design and present their three Solar Module activities as part of their 3-D Solar Exhibit summative assessment.
This lesson introduces students to the nature of science and how to evaluate evidence to determine whether they are engaging in science or pseudoscience.
Sharing Science With Film: A Guide to Student Productions is a guide for educators, and provides a how-to manual for instructing youth on how to produce short films.
Students take virtual field trips to explore air quality research sites and investigate the causes, effects, and solutions to nitrogen deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park during this module.
This lesson activity has students conduct an experiment that reinforces one component of the water cycle.
The SDO curriculum teaches students through self-directed solar explorations and encourages them to be engaged learners in order to understand the science of our Sun and to apply the knowledge they gain to solve tomorrow’s solar situations.
This lesson uses a matching game to build students' understanding and familiarity with different terms used in the world of resiliency planning.
In this lesson, students will apply what they know about how to separate a mixture by designing a wastewater treatment facility that effectively removes contaminants.
In this lesson, students develop a fundamental understanding of NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) and the Sun’s structure and function.