To investigate the different rates of heating and cooling of certain materials on earth in order to understand the heating dynamics that take place in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Read about Abigale Wyatt's great adventure as she travels on the R/V Sally Ride for a month-long cruise to study how plankton in the ocean affect the carbon cycle and, ultimately, the climate.

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.

Be a Scientist: The GLOBE Program encourages you to use GLOBE data to help answer questions about how the environment works.  Through research projects, you can answer your own science questions by creating hypotheses, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and sharing your results.  Scientific projects that you conduct and that include the use of GLOBE data or protocols can be submitted by your teacher for publication on this GLOBE website. By sharing your findings with the rest of the world you are completing the scientific process.

Students will examine how radiation, conduction, and convection work together as a part of Earth’s Energy Budget to heat the atmosphere.

Conduct this modified EO Kids mini-lesson with your students to explore the phenomenon of Urban Heat Island Effect.

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

This activity invites students to simulate and observe the different effects on sea level from melting sea-ice.

Environmental engineers use the basis of engineering, soil science, biology, and chemistry to develop solutions to problems in the environment. Some of their efforts involve recycling, waste disposal, public health, water and air pollution control. Many are engaged in solving practical, yet global issues such as unsafe drinking water, climate change, and environmental sustainability.

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.