NASA visualizers take data – numbers, codes – and turn them into animations people can see and quickly understand.

Students analyze data from graphs for sea ice extent (area) in both polar regions (Arctic and Antarctic) to learn about seasonal variations and over a 30-year period to learn about longer-term trends.

This unit, created through the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI), helps students learn about each component of the energy budget formula and how the contribution of each component changes based on the location and the time of the year.