In this activity, students explore the Urban Heat Island Effect phenomenon by collecting temperatures of different materials with respect to their locations. This activity was modified from The NASA PUMAS Collection's "What makes
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Students will analyze a line graph that shows how the surface temperature and air temperature values change over the course of 24 hours.
Students observe the surface temperatures of a variety of surface types found in a suburban environment.
Students analyze a graph that illustrates the change in global surface temperature relative to 1951-1980 average temperatures.
Students identify and classify kinds of land cover (such as vegetation, urban areas, water, and bare soil) in Landsat satellite images of Phoenix, Arizona taken in 1984 and 2018.
Students analyze surface air temperature anomalies to identify change with respect to different latitudes across the world.
Students will identify and describe the relationship between land cover classification and surface temperature as they relate to the urban heat island effect. Students will also describe patterns between population density and the locations of urban heat islands.
Students will analyze how surface (skin) temperatures vary across a community and determine what factors contribute to this variation. Students will describe how human activity can affect the local environment.
This unit plan is published by the NASA Climate Change Research Initiative's (CCRI) Applied Research STEM Curriculum Portfolio. The CCRI Unit Plan, called “Urban Surface Temperatures and the Urban Heat Island Effects,“ has the purpose to educate students how climate is changi