Students construct explanations about Earth’s energy budget by connecting a model with observations from side-by-side animations of the monthly mapped data showing incoming and outgoing shortwave radiation from Earth’s surface.
List of all Earth as a System Lesson Plans
![all grade icon](../themes/mynasadata_theme/img/all.png)
![elementary grade icon](../themes/mynasadata_theme/img/elem.png)
![middle grade icon](../themes/mynasadata_theme/img/middle.png)
![high grade icon](../themes/mynasadata_theme/img/high.png)
The extreme temperatures during July 2022 prompt students to investigate a model that displays historical heat wave frequency data to discover the importance of defining terms when interpreting data.
Guided by the 5E model, this lesson allows students to work together to uncover how changes in sea ice extent in the Arctic and Antarctic regions are connected to Earth’s energy budget.
Students use albedo values of common surfaces along with photographic images of Earth taken from the International Space Station to make an argument about specific anthropogenic activities that impact Earth’s albedo.
This lesson contains a card sort activity that challenges students to predict relative albedo values of common surfaces.
Students consider the impact of changing conditions on the remote island of Little Diomede, Alaska after they investigate the relationship between seasonal trends in sea ice extent with shortwave and longwave radiation flux described in Earth’s energy budget.
Students watch a 28-minute video on NASA's involvement in fighting wildfires.
These six graphs show Ocean Chlorophyll Concentrations from 1998 - 2018 in a variety of locations: East Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, California Coast, Southeastern US/Gulf of Mexico, Northeastern US and the Scotian Shelf, and the Hawaiian Islands.
In this activity, students will analyze past and future eclipse data and orbital models to determine why we don’t experience eclipses every month.
In this activity students will learn several ways to safely observe a solar eclipse.