Earth is made up of five major parts or subsystems: the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, Cryosphere, and Geosphere. Each major part is connected to the other parts in a complex web of processes.

Students move through a series of short activities to explore and evaluate global solar radiation data from NASA satellites.  In this process, students make qualitative and quantitative observations about seasonal variations in net energy input to the Earth System.

Examine (daytime) surface temperature and solar radiation received at locations found near similar latitudes using NASA Data.

Using an infographic, students describe differences in electromagnetic radiation that is part of a model of Earth’s energy budget by applying the defined terms of Shortwave Radiation and Longwave Radiation.

Students will analyze surface temperature and solar radiation data to construct explanations about the relationship of seasons and temperature to the amount of solar energy received on Earth’s surface.

Students will watch and examine a NASA animation of Earth’s rising surface temperatures over an almost 150 year period.

My NASA Data has recently released several new resources, StoryMaps, for use in educational settings.

NASA visualizers take data – numbers, codes – and turn them into animations people can see and quickly understand.

The Earth System Satellite Images help students observe and analyze global Earth and environmental data, understand the relationship among different environmental variables, and explore how the data change seasonally and over longer timescales.  

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