The need for improving the representation of cloud processes in climate models has been one of the most important limitations of the reliability of climate-change simulations. Now in its third year, the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Multi-scale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes (CMMAP) at Colorado State University is addressing this problem through a revolutionary new approach to representing cloud processes on their native scales, including the cloud-scale interactions processes that are active in cloud systems. CMMAP has also set ambitious education and human-resource goals to share basic information about the atmosphere, clouds, weather, climate, and modeling with diverse K-12 and public audiences through its affiliation with the Windows to the Universe (W2U) program at University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). Many new and revised W2U web pages are written at three levels in English and Spanish. This information targets learners at all levels, educators, and families who seek to understand and share resources and information about the nature of the climate system and career role models from the climate and weather research fields. This resource can also be helpful to educators committed to building bridges in the classroom between the sciences, the arts, and literacy.

Visitors to the W2U's CMMAP web portal can access a beautiful new clouds image gallery; information about each cloud type and the atmospheric processes that produce them; a Clouds in Art interactive; collections of weather-themed poetry, art, and myths; links to games and puzzles for children; and extensive classroom-ready resources and activities for K-12 teachers. Biographies of CMMAP scientists and graduate students are featured. Basic science concepts important to understanding the atmosphere, such as condensation, atmosphere pressure, lapse rate, and more, have been developed, as well as “microworlds” that enable students to interact with experimental tools while building fundamental knowledge. This presentation will describe how resources emerging from CMMAP on the W2U can be conveniently accessed and used at no cost by the entire atmospheric science K-12 and informal educational and outreach community.