In this lesson, students will explore the effect of aerosols on sky color and visibility by using an interactive virtual model. 

Students will review the NASA Space Place video, "Tectonic Forces", and answer questions about tectonic plates.

Compare images from two volcanic eruptions in the Kuril Islands which occurred ten years apart and complete a graphic organizer for impacts on different Earth spheres. 

Learn about volcanic ash and watch a visualization of the Calbuco volcano to see how ash travels around the world. 

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

The activities in this guide will help students understand variations in environmental parameters by examining connections among different phenomena measured on local, regional and global scales.

Through guided inquiry, students will identify interactions of the four major scientific spheres on Earth: biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. They will then identify how these systems are represented and interact in their classroom aquarium.

This activity introduces students to aspects of the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and litho/geosphere and how they are interrelated. It is designed to promote an interest in authentic investigations of Earth using images acquired by astronauts as the hook.

Students will analyze and interpret graphs to compare the flow of (shortwave) energy from the Sun toward China over the course of a year on cloudy versus clear days. Students will draw a conclusion and support it with evidence.

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