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

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.

Students will analyze how surface (skin) temperatures vary across a community and determine what factors contribute to this variation. Students will describe how human activity can affect the local environment. 

In this activity, students make a claim about the cause of ocean currents and then develop a model to explain the role of temperature and density in deep ocean currents.  This lesson is modified from "Visit to an Ocean Planet" Caltech and NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Students observe the surface temperatures of a variety of surface types found in a suburban environment.

Students will analyze a line graph that shows how the surface temperature and air temperature values change over the course of 24 hours.

After learning about the different characteristics of satellite data, students will describe the advantages and disadvantages of using two different satellites to study the Urban Heat Island Effect.  

Students analyze Landsat images of Atlanta, Georgia to explore the relationship between surface temperature and vegetation.

Students review a video showing how the ocean is warmed by solar energy. This is the first video of a four-part series on the water cycle, which follows the journey of water from the ocean to the atmosphere, to the land, and back again to the ocean.

Students interpret a graph of surface temperatures taken from city districts and other types of communities.