In this lesson, students will investigate the drivers of climate change, including adding carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, sea level rise, and the effect of decreasing sea ice on temperatures.

Students model Earth's tectonic plate movement and explore the relationship between these movements and different types of volcanoes.

Students will describe the changes in a newly-formed volcanic island over the first three years of its life.  

Students examine satellite images of an island before and after a volcanic eruption to determine the impact of the eruption.

Students analyze the relationship between sea surface height and ocean surface currents by graphing sea height using satellite data.  Note: This lesson is modified from NASA's TOPEX/Poseidon lesson plan.

This learning activity uses data acquired by the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter, a joint project of NASA and the French Space Agency, to investigate the relationship between the topography of a sea-floor feature and the topography of the overlying sea surface.