The Great Smoky Mountains have a unique climate and weather pattern. Students will review a Landsat image and read about the history of the area and why Native Americans called the area “Shaconage.” Then they will answer the questions about what caused the unusual “blue smoke.”

Using hourly graphs of PM 2.5 data and HYSPLIT model trajectories, students will collect evidence for the effects of fireworks on air quality.

Students analyze two North Pole orthographic data visualizations produced from soil moisture data. After describing trends in the seasonal thaw of land surfaces, students demonstrate their understanding of Earth’s energy budget by explaining relationships and make predictions about the dataset.

Students will synthesize information from maps that show population, concentrations of PM_2.5, and PM_2.5-attributable mortality across the globe in order to draw conclusions about the relationship between particulate pollution and human health. 

Air quality is a measure of the pollution level in the air. Polluted air can be caused by many things. There are manmade and natural sources of emissions. 

Students will engage in a collaborative learning routine as they explore slides that show how the development of public transportation infrastructure changed the land in Woodlawn, Maryland. They will make observations of a satellite image and a photo from the ground as well as read background information on the impact of urbanization. 

In this activity students will compare different methods for observing the Sun’s corona and make predictions about what they will observe during the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse.

Students can interact with NASA data to build visualizations of monthly soil moisture data on a custom map or graph, using the Earth System Data Explorer.

Students analyze a graph that illustrates the change in global surface temperature relative to 1951-1980 average temperatures.

My NASA Data has recently released several new resources, story maps, for use in educational settings.