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

The activities in this guide will help students understand variations in environmental parameters by examining connections among different phenomena measured on local, regional and global scales.

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.

This hands-on activity uses the kitchen sink to model the properties of the boundary of the heliosphere and takes learners through the scientific processes used in investigations: Making observations, using models, and communicating results.

Check out this interview to learn more about Dr. Claire Parkinson's journey to become Senior Scientist researching Climate Change at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

A kinesthetic activity that challenges students to participate in a model that describes the fate of solar energy as it enters the Earth system.  A good initial lesson for Earth’s energy budget, students unravel the benefits and limitations of their model.

A system is an organized group of related components that work together to carry out functions that the individual parts cannot do alone.  The Earth System, like the human body system, are similar in that they comprise diverse parts that interact in complex ways.

A model analyst develops models to help visualize, observe, and predict complicated data. Model analysis is the process of taking large amounts of data and separate it into a structure that makes it intelligible to the binary process of computers. An analyst also manages the flow of information between different user groups through the use of relational databases.

Mathematical modelers use mathematics to create models that demonstrate complex processes or solve problems. Many mathematical modelers use their skills to create and animate 3D representations of their processes with the assistance of software technology. 

Learners use a compass to trace magnetic field lines of a bar magnet. They observe a CME hitting Earth’s magnetosphere and compare its shape to the magnet. They then apply their understanding of magnetic fields to those found on the Sun.