Students will analyze surface temperature and solar radiation data to construct explanations about the relationship of seasons and temperature to the amount of solar energy received on Earth’s surface.

Students will watch and examine a NASA animation of Earth’s rising surface temperatures over an almost 150 year period.

Examine (daytime) surface temperature and solar radiation received at locations found near similar latitudes using NASA Data.

This video provides tips for teachers on helping students make sense of data to help them understand and work with data. It is based on the work of Kristin Hunter-Thomson of Dataspire.org and uses data from the My NASA Data Earth System Data Explorer.

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

By investigating the data presented in a model that displays extreme summer air temperatures, students explain energy transfer in the Earth system and consider the impact of excessive heat on local communities.

Students review Earth System phenomena that are affected by soil moisture.  They analyze and evaluate maps of seasonal global surface air temperature and soil moisture data from NASA satellites. Building from their observations, students will select a location in the U.S.

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