This lesson is designed to help students analyze the interaction between different cloud heights and Earth's incoming and outgoing energy. 

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

Students collect and analyze temperature data to explore what governs how much energy is reflected. 

 Air, Water, Land, & Life: A Global Perspective

The extreme temperatures during July 2022 prompt students to investigate a model that displays historical heat wave frequency data to discover the importance of defining terms when interpreting data.

Students construct explanations about Earth’s energy budget by connecting a model with observations from side-by-side animations of the monthly mapped data showing incoming and outgoing shortwave radiation from Earth’s surface.

Students will examine how radiation, conduction, and convection work together as a part of Earth’s Energy Budget to heat the atmosphere.

The Earth System Satellite Images, along with the Data Literacy Cubes, help the learner determine relationships among variables.  

The Earth System Satellite Images, along with the Data Literacy Cubes, help the learner visualize how different Earth system variables change over time, establish cause and effect relationships, identify patterns, and determine relationships among variables.  

The Earth System Satellite Images, help the learner visualize how different Earth system variables change over time, establish cause and effect relationships for a specific variable, identify patterns, and determine relationships among variables over one year.