Exploring salinity patterns is a great way to better understand the relationships between the water cycle, ocean circulation, and climate. In this mini lesson, students analyze sea surface salinity mapped plots created from the Earth System Data Explorer, paired with questions (and answers) from the Aquarius Mission. Credit: Aquarius Education
Educational Resources - Search Tool
Learn about volcanic ash and watch a visualization of the Calbuco volcano to see how ash travels around the world.
Review this page to learn about the background of volcanoes and their eruptions.
Students explore the spatial patterns observed in meteorological data and learn how this information is used to predict weather and understand climate behavior.
Our Earth is a dynamic system with diverse subsystems that interact in complex ways. Questions that scientists have about the Earth as a System may include the following. As you learn more about the Earth System, reflect on these questions.
This graphic organizer may be used to help students analyze the processes and components of Earth System phenomena.
This NASA visualization shows sea surface salinity observations (September 2011-September 2014). Students review the video and answer questions.
Students review a video showing how the ocean is warmed by solar energy. This is the first video of a four-part series on the water cycle, which follows the journey of water from the ocean to the atmosphere, to the land, and back again to the ocean.
Students will analyze a pie chart (circle graph) showing the distribution of different parts of the Earth system's absorption and reflection of energy.
The Earth System Satellite Images help students observe and analyze global Earth and environmental data, understand the relationship among different environmental variables, and explore how the data change seasonally and over longer timescales.