Watch NASA videos about aerosols and volcanic ash.

Students watch videos and/or review articles related to particulate matter and how this pollutant is monitored and measured, then provide their understanding individually or in groups.

This mini lesson engages students in watching a NASA video related to accumulated dust that makes the trans-Atlantic journey from the Sahara Desert to the Amazon rainforest using NASA's CALIPSO satellite. Students will examine a model and answer questions related to dust transport and the introduction of phosphorus to the soils of the Amazon.

Use the AirNow.gov website to determine current air quality in US locations, as well as other information.

Examine the images to see the projected differences in land use between 1900 and 2100. 

The fires in Greece during the summer of 2007 devastated large tracks of forest and ground cover in this Mediterranean region. Students analyze these data to determine the scale, area, and percentage of the forest impacted by of these fires.

Students review a video that models the global impact of smoke from fires to develop an understanding of how models can be used to interpret and forecast phenomena in the Earth System. 

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

Students observe how air quality changes over time, for a selected location, using data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Students will synthesize information from maps that show population, concentrations of PM_2.5, and PM_2.5-attributable mortality across the globe in order to draw conclusions about the relationship between particulate pollution and human health.