Lab-centered teaching is an integral part of the Climatology course taught at Delaware State University, which uses course materials developed by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Education Program. Lab activities become the centerpiece of the students’ learning - allowing students to make real-world connections to material acquired during lecture and implementing the concepts and skills learned through hands-on discovery later adapted by Virginia State University and Morgan State University. During the School of Ice professional development workshop conducted by the U.S. Ice Drilling Program Office in 2015 and International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) in 2016 in partnership with AMS, faculty were introduced to many aspects of ice- and sediment-science and equipped with tools and knowledge to share with their classrooms. Following participation in the School of Ice and IODP Ocean Sediment Workshop, four lab activities were developed. First lab activity, entitled Ice Core Research, was adapted from the lab “Exploring the History of Climate Change” in A Wisconsin Activity Guide. In the second lab, students built upon the knowledge gained from the first lab, and discovered how the deuterium/hydrogen isotope ratio, a paleoproxy for temperature in ice cores to gain temperature information about the past. Third and fourth lab activities were adapted from the IODP Ocean Sediment Workshop. In the third lab, background information on isotopic fractionation of oxygen in the hydrogen cycle was presented to the students. In the fourth lab, students successfully navigated the five Offshore Drilling Platform core collection sites using http://geode.net/exploring-marine-sediments-using-google-earth/), examined the cores, and answered questions about the sediment samples. To monitor students’ knowledge and understanding of the materials, course assessments followed the lectures and laboratory activities. Assessments showed that these lab-centered teaching activities engaged students and enhanced their understanding of historical ice core data, ocean sediments, and global temperature changes over time.