Students analyze and compare satellite data of Ocean Chlorophyll Concentrations with Sea Surface Temperatures, beginning with the North Atlantic region, while answering questions about the global patterns of these phenomenon.

Students will identify and describe the relationship between watersheds and phytoplankton distribution. 

Students identify patterns in chlorophyll concentration data to formulate their explanations of phytoplankton distribution. 

In this activity, you will use an inexpensive spectrophotometer* to test how light at different visible wavelengths (blue, green, red) is transmitted, or absorbed, through four different colored water samples.

Students identify patterns and describe the relationship between chlorophyll concentration and incoming shortwave radiation. 

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

This investigation is part of the NASA: Mission Geography Module "What are the causes and consequences of climate change?" that guides students through explorations in climatic variability and evidence for global climate change.