Air, Water, Land, & Life: A Global Perspective

Explore and connect to the GLOBE Water Quality protocol bundle. 

Explore and connect to the GLOBE Water Cycle protocol bundle. 

GLOBE protocols and learning activities that complement the Changes in Land Surface and Land Use Change phenomena through hands-on investigations are detailed. 

Students will explore the Nitrogen Cycle by modeling the movement of a nitrogen atom as it passes through the cycle. Students will stop in the different reservoirs along the way, answering questions about the processes that brought them to the different reservoirs.  

This lesson was based on an activity from UCAR Center for Science Education. 

In this mini-lesson, students analyze soil moisture quantities associated with Hurricane Harvey around Houston, Texas on August 25, 2017.

Students review Earth System phenomena that are affected by soil moisture.  They analyze and evaluate maps of seasonal global surface air temperature and soil moisture data from NASA satellites. Building from their observations, students will select a location in the U.S.

Students collect and analyze temperature data to explore what governs how much energy is reflected. 

Explore and connect to the GLOBE Rivers and Lakes protocol bundle. 

An urban heat island is a phenomenon that is best described when a city experiences much warmer temperatures than in nearby rural areas. The sun’s heat and light reach the city and the country in the same way. The difference in temperature between urban and less-developed rural areas has to do with how well the surfaces in each environment absorb and hold heat.