Grade Level: 6-8,
9-12
This mini lesson helps students visualize how the Hydrosphere and Cryosphere interact to produce changes in land and sea ice.
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Featured Mini Lesson
Stability and Change: Changes in Sea Ice (Student Activity)
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
This mini lesson helps students visualize how the Hydrosphere and Cryosphere interact to produce changes in land and sea ice.
Exploring Sea Ice Changes over Time: Student Activity
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Arctic sea ice is the cap of frozen seawater blanketing most of the Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas in wintertime. It follows seasonal patterns of thickening and melting. See how the quantity has changed from 1979 through 2018.
Glacier Retreat
Grade Level: 6-8
The Eyjabakkajökull Glacier is an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap in Iceland that has been retreating since a major surge occurred in 1973. Students analyze these maps to identify the scale and rate of change of the glacier loss.
Seasonal Sea and Land Ice Melt: Student Activity
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Examine the two time series images to determine the differences between seasonal ice melt over water versus land.
NASA's Earth Minute: Greenland Ice (Student Activity)
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Located in the Arctic near the North Pole, Greenland is covered by a massive ice sheet three times the size of Texas and a mile deep on average. Greenland is warming almost twice as fast as Antarctica, which is causing the ice to melt and raise global sea levels.
Observing Earth's Cryosphere: Student Activity
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Watch the video and have students answer the questions about Earth's cryosphere.
Creating Images from Numbers
Grade Level: 6-8
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.
Creating and Interpreting Images as Models
Grade Level: 9-12
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.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
Arctic sea ice is the cap of frozen seawater blanketing most of the Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas in wintertime. It follows seasonal patterns of thickening and melting. See how the quantity has changed from 1979 through 2018.
Grade Level: 6-8
The Eyjabakkajökull Glacier is an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap in Iceland that has been retreating since a major surge occurred in 1973. Students analyze these maps to identify the scale and rate of change of the glacier loss.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
Examine the two time series images to determine the differences between seasonal ice melt over water versus land.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8
Located in the Arctic near the North Pole, Greenland is covered by a massive ice sheet three times the size of Texas and a mile deep on average. Greenland is warming almost twice as fast as Antarctica, which is causing the ice to melt and raise global sea levels.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8
Watch the video and have students answer the questions about Earth's cryosphere.
Grade Level: 9-12
Students analyze four data visualizations focused on the topic of sea level. They use a jigsaw method to explore and communicate their findings to their peers.
Grade Level: 6-8,
9-12
The radar measurements made by NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory are sensitive to whether land surfaces are frozen or thawed. Students analyze two maps of SMAP data to make inferences about changes to the Arctic's Geosphere showing spring thaw.
Grade Level: 3-5,
6-8,
9-12
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.
Grade Level: 6-8,
9-12
The Earth's system is characterized by the interaction of processes that take place on molecular (very small) and planetary (very large) spatial scales, as well as on short and long time scales.
