El Niño and La Niña is a common component of most Earth and environmental science courses. The topic can be tricky. I use the following graphic organizer/coloring sheet to help student understanding. Like most atmospheric topics in general, students really, REALLY struggle with this concept.
Link to Download Coloring Sheet
Implementation
I always include a filled-in version of the notes I create. Sometimes I use the template I created to look at and just throw a blank copy under the documentary camera and lecture while filling in a blank copy in front of the class. Alternatively, if you do not want to lecture, this short youtube video could serve as a good source to take notes from.
Alternatively, I often I often fill this out like normal notes with students and then I ask them to put the sheet away and redraw the concept using chalk markers (or even on the back).
Avoid These Common Misconceptions
1. Students often think El Niño and La Niña are specific storms instead of large-scale climate patterns.
2. Many students believe the weather impacts of El Niño and La Niña are the same everywhere (like assuming all regions get floods during El Niño).
3. Students might think El Niño and La Niña occur like clockwork annually. Be sure to highlight the unpredictability of their cycles and include the concept of neutral years when neither phenomenon occurs.
4. Students might oversimplify by thinking El Niño always means warmer weather and La Niña always means colder weather everywhere.
5. Students may assume El Niño always causes negative impacts, while La Niña is positive (or vice versa). Where a student lives drastically impacts their perception of these events. For example: students in Florida may think La Niña is a ‘bad; thing because of increased hurricane frequency while students living in California may think El Niño is “good” because of increased rainfall.
