Meet Dr. Yoland Shea, Atmospheric Scientist at NASA Langley Research Center.  Learn what inspired her as a child and how she became a NASA scientist!

Remember to never look directly at the Sun without proper safety equipment.

What is a solar eclipse?

Atmospheric scientists study the weather and climate and examine how those conditions affect human activity and the earth in general. Most atmospheric scientists work indoors in weather stations, offices, or laboratories. Occasionally, they do fieldwork, which means working outdoors to examine the weather. Some atmospheric scientists may have to work extended hours during weather emergencies.

In this activity students will make observations about the objects, size, distance, and motion of the Sun, Earth, and Moon during a solar eclipse and manipulate slides to show the relationships.

This interactive takes students through the basic mechanics of a solar eclipse, using a NASA Space Place Handout, including an optional eclipse art activity.

In this activity students will calculate the ratio of the size of the sun to the moon and the distance of the sun and moon from Earth to determine the type of solar eclipse possible.

Students will engage in a “Zoom In Inquiry” learning routine to understand the symbols on a world map that shows population-weighted concentrations of PM_2.5. They will reflect on how their perception of the image changed as they saw more of the image.

This mini lesson engages students in writing a commentary for a NASA video regarding changes in global temperatures from 1880 to 2017. 

Students observe the map image, individually, looking for changes in surface air temperatures (using data displayed, unit of measure, range of values, etc.) and noticeable patterns.

Students will describe the changes in a newly-formed volcanic island over the first three years of its life.