Dateline: El Niño is a lesson that teaches students about El Niño, the weather phenomenon that starts in and above the Pacific Ocean. Students take the role of a reporter seeking to "get the facts" on El Niño for their report, or "story". This story can take whatever form a teacher decides, from a written newspaper article to a videotaped news report. 

Students take the role of a reporter working for the Bold News Service. Their boss, the Chief, wants the students to find out why the weather has been acting so strange in their area. He assigns them to get the story on El Niño. 

The Chief tells students that a good story covers the major questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. This gives the students a guide on what their story should cover and what kind of information they need to find on El Niño. 

Information about El Niño comes to the student from their friend Davis. Davis has sent them information about El Niño by e-mail. Students can read through Davis' e-mail for information and explanations about El Niño. 

There are some links contained in Dateline: El Niño that will take students to other sites with El Niño graphics or real-time data about the current El Niño. These sites can provide current information about El Niño that students can use in their story. Using real-time data challenges the student to interpret information for themselves just as they will out of school. 

After reading through Dateline: El Niño, students are asked to write their story about El Niño. You as a teacher can decide what form this story should take. Students can continue their reporter role-playing and write a newspaper article about El Niño. Or students can be video-taped giving their reports like they are reporters delivering a Six O' Clock news story. 

Larger groups of students can use Dateline: El Niño too. Divide students up into teams and have each student focus on a different element of El Niño, like its location. When the research is done, the students can then team up to create an El Niño newspaper using word-processing computer programs, or create a mock newscast by filming each other giving their reports. 

Dateline: El Niño can be found by clicking on the El Niño Home button at the left.