Students develop and test a hypothesis about how albedo affects temperature.

Students connect day/night and seasonal cycles with albedo in the Arctic region. 

Students explore albedo, sea ice, and the relationship between changing albedo and changing sea ice using data visualizations. 

Students will make a claim about whether changing albedo contributes to changes in Arctic habitats.

This graphic organizer may be used to help students analyze the processes and components of Earth System phenomena.

The advance-and-retreat cycle of snow cover drastically changes the whiteness and brightness of Earth. Using two maps created using NASA satellite data for 2017, students review the seasonal differences of snow and ice extent and answer questions on their observations.

This mini lesson helps students visualize how the Hydrosphere and Cryosphere interact to produce changes in land and sea ice. 

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.

This activity is one of a series in the collection, The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change activities. 

Students consider the impact of changing conditions on the remote island of Little Diomede, Alaska after they investigate the relationship between seasonal trends in sea ice extent with shortwave and longwave radiation flux described in Earth’s energy budget.