This Internet-based collaborative project will allow students to share information about water usage with other students from around the country and the world. Based on data collected by their household members and their classmates, students will determine the average amount of water used by one person in a day. They will compare this to the average amount of water used per person per day in other ... Full description.

This module provides three activities that explore the potential impact of climate variability and change on Earth's most abundant resource, water. Although each activity is designed to tap specific skills and knowledge to yield scientific results, the broader intent is to stimulate thought about the long-term impacts of a warmer planet. Through participation in these activities, students will observe ... Full description.

This lesson uses NASA satellite data to contrast amounts of cloud coverage over different climate regions in Africa. An an outcome of the lesson, the student will be able to explain how Earth's major air circulations affect global weather patterns and relate local weather patterns to climate as well as identify different climate regions. Students will also describe conditions for cloud formation along ... Full description.

This easy but effective lesson uses NASA CERES satellite percent coverage surface data along with a world map and asks students to locate landmasses and bodies of water at Earth's Equator. Students will map locations using latitude and longitude coordinates. Using the microset of satellite data included with the lesson to investigate surface characteristics, students will apply percentage to determine ... Full description.

This unit, designed to span two class periods, helps students understand that physical factors, particularly temperature and precipitation, limit the growth of plant ecosystems. The activity begins with a discussion in which students develop their own ideas about the role of temperature, precipitation, and environment on plant growth. They will then examine X-Y graphs of vegetation growth, temperature, ... Full description.

Weather involves the daily fluctuations in temperature, humidity, clouds, winds, etc. By contrast, climate is the long term weather patterns in a region. Therefore, to assess changes in climate, one has to look at average changes over long periods of time. Students will use long wave radiation data to determine whether the climate has changed in Portland, Oregon over a 20 year time span. They will ... Full description.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the US. Eleven rivers empty into the bay creating the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. From urban areas and cultivated fields in which wetlands were not preserved, runoff can run into the rivers unfiltered. This runoff can include nutrients that can cause uncontrolled growth of an abundance of algae which can eventually increase the turbidity of the river, not ... Full description.

The purpose of this activity is to learn how contour maps can be made by hand. Students plot data from GLOBE schools on a map with latitude and longitude lines and draw contours based on the values plotted. A suggested extension and how to use this activity as an assessment is included. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to have students learn to use the hydrology instruments and collect the hydrology data accurately. In the classroom, students practice using the instruments or kits for protocols, exploring the range of measurements and sources of variation and error. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to define a soil characterization site. The following factors are defined: location, latitude, longitude, elevation, aspect (the direction of the steepest slope across an exposed soil site) and landscape position and slope (describes the contours of the land at the soil characterization site). Full description.