In this NASA investigation, "What's Hot at the Mall," students examine how shopping malls change natural environments by examining thermal images gathered by NASA showing an area in Huntsville, Alabama. 

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

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

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

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

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. 

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

The extreme temperatures during July 2022 prompt students to investigate a model that displays historical heat wave frequency data to discover the importance of defining terms when interpreting data.

Explore and connect to the GLOBE Urban protocol bundle.