Those involved in education in atmospheric science have two unique advantages: the laboratory is immediately outside, with the atmosphere providing a continuous opportunity for observations leading to the creation and testing of theories; and virtually everyone is interested in weather and climate because it influences their lives every day. The challenge for the educator is to stimulate the inherent interest and to foster the development of the critical thinking necessary for analysis, appreciation, and forecasting. The practical nature of applied climatology makes it a major participant in this education. The problems this subject addresses are commonly associated with forecasts on various time and space scales, and frequently require the use of standard meteorological techniques, scientific insight, and creative thinking, to produce useful solutions. They also have such a wide range of subject matter and difficulty that there are problems and solutions appropriate for all educational levels. This presentation explores some of the opportunities, and drawbacks, associated with the use of a problem-oriented approach to education in climatology. Emphasis is placed on the flexibility of the approach, since it can be of value both to those who are likely to make a career in atmospheric science and to those who will become consumers of the results such people produce