The Earth is constantly changing. Some of this change occurs slowly over many millennia, and some occurs relatively rapidly over the decades. Major natural forces cause such changes as volcanoes, continental shifts, building and erosion of mountains, reorganization of oceans, appearance and disappearance of deserts and marshlands, advances and retreats of great ice sheets, rise and fall of sea and lake levels, and the evolution and extinction of vast numbers of species.
Learn how Landsat data are used to detect changes in land use. This video describes how the data are interpreted and gives examples of changes in forests from different insects and differences due to land management.
Examine the images to see the projected differences in land use between 1900 and 2100.
Examine a model and answer questions about dust transport around the world.
Information from satellites if often used to display information about objects. This information can include how things appear, as well as their contents. Explore how pixel data sequences can be used to create an image and interpret it.
Scientific data are often represented by assigning ranges of numbers to specific colors. The colors are then used to make false color images which allow us to see patterns more easily.
Learn how Landsat data are used to detect changes in land use. This video describes how the data are interpreted and gives examples of changes in forests from different insects and differences due to land management.
Examine the images to see the projected differences in land use between 1900 and 2100.
Examine a model and answer questions about dust transport around the world.
Explore using units for calculations with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). NDVI is a ratio of different light wavelength reflectance which can be used to map the density of green vegetation.
The fires in Greece during the summer of 2007 devastated large tracks of forest and ground cover in this Mediterranean region. Students analyze these data to determine the scale, area, and percentage of the forest impacted by of these fires.
Students will analyze a pie chart (circle graph) showing the distribution of different parts of the Earth system the in absorption and reflection of energy.
Students observe monthly images of changing vegetation patterns, looking for seasonal changes occurring throughout 2017. These data can be used by students to develop their own models of change.
Explore using units in calculations with the Leaf Area Index (LAI). LAI is a ratio that describes the number of square meters of leaves per square meter of available land surface. Because of the units in the ratio, it is dimensionless.
