Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The Earth System Satellite Images, along with the Data Literacy Cubes, helps the learner identify patterns in a specific image.
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Featured Lesson Plans
Modeling Incoming Solar Radiation
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
A kinesthetic activity that challenges students to participate in a model that describes the fate of solar energy as it enters the Earth system. A good initial lesson for Earth’s energy budget, students unravel the benefits and limitations of their model.
Ins and Outs of Shortwave Radiation
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
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.
Energy Transfer in Earth's Atmosphere
Grade Level: 6-8
Students will examine how radiation, conduction, and convection work together as a part of Earth’s Energy Budget to heat the atmosphere.
Earth’s Energy Budget-Seasonal Cycles
Grade Level: 9-12
Students move through a series of short activities to explore and evaluate global solar radiation data from NASA satellites. In this process, students make qualitative and quantitative observations about seasonal variations in net energy input to the Earth System.
Arctic Sea Ice Changes and Earth's Energy Budget
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
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.
Investigating Sea Ice Extent in the Arctic and Antarctic
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
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.
Clouds & Their Impact on Global Warming
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Students will investigate the role of clouds and their contribution (if any) to global warming. Working in cooperative groups, students will make a claim about the future role clouds will play in Earth’s Energy Budget if temperatures continue to increase.
Greenhouse Gases: Importance & Human Impact
Grade Level: 6-8
Students will watch and examine a NASA animation of Earth’s rising surface temperatures over an almost 150 year period.
Energy Absorption on the School Yard (Lab Activity)
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Students collect and analyze temperature data to explore what governs how much energy is reflected.
Earth's Energy Budget Lesson Plan list
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The Earth System Satellite Images, help the learner visualize how different Earth system variables change over time, establish cause and effect relationships for a specific variable, identify patterns, and determine relationships among variables over one year.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The Earth System Satellite Images, along with the Data Literacy Cubes, helps the learner identify patterns in a specific image.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The Earth System Satellite Images, along with the Data Literacy Cubes, help the learner visualize how different Earth system variables change over time, establish cause and effect relationships, identify patterns, and determine relationships among variables.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The Earth System Satellite Images, along with the Data Literacy Cubes, help the learner visualize how different Earth system variables change over time, identify patterns, and determine relationships among two variables in three months.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The Earth System Satellite Images, along with the Data Literacy Cubes, help the learner determine relationships among variables.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The Earth System Satellite, help the learner visualize how different Earth system variables change over time. In this lesson, students will graph six points for a location over one year.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
The activities in this guide will help students understand variations in environmental parameters by examining connections among different phenomena measured on local, regional and global scales.
Grade Level: 6-8,
9-12
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.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
This lesson, "Awenasa Goes to Camp!," is a data analysis activity that presents maps of NASA Earth satellite data for a variety of locations across the United States for four unidentified months throughout the year. Each location represents a real science camp th
