The purpose of this activity is to learn about visualizations by designing and drawing one. Students draw a visualization based either on their interests and ideas about the world or based on actual GLOBE data. They are asked to justify the design choices they make and to interpret the visualizations of their peers. Intended outcomes are that students learn to identify and communicate important patterns ... 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.

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 2-3 week module, based on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Cassini mission to Saturn, uses the mission as a context for learning fundamental science/math concepts. It consists of six standards-based, constructivist lessons, enrichment activities, and supplemental material such as questions and answers, a glossary, and a chart of Cassini's position in the sky. Full description.

In this lesson, students focus on the tremendous public interest in the potential of extraterrestrial life. Students read and discuss an article about the search for alien life. They then divide into small groups and discuss the issues and implications of this search. Finally, they write about the complex issues involved in this search and its implications in one of several suggested genres. Full description.

This project uses an excellent method of reinforcing use of metric/temperature measurement and assessing student knowledge of temperature, measurement, data collection/presentation/graphing and environmental issues. Students learn how temperature differs depending upon the type of surface area. Full description.

This site has been created by the University of Rhode Island's Office of Marine Programs as part of the Narragansett Bay Commission's Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) project. The site serves as a portal to find large quantities of information about the Narragansett Bay Estuarian Region. The Teacher Resource Section contains suggested classroom activities, ... Full description.

This activity examines many of the reasons why it is important to construct large dams, specifically, the three major dams across the Gunnison River leading into Black Canyon (Colorado). The importance of the dams for irrigation, electrical supply and recreation throughout history is explored. Students will learn about the different types of dam constructions, with pros and cons for each. There is ... Full description.

This lesson uses NASA satellite data to correlate cloud cover over Africa to the solar declination. The student will access NASA data using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server and import the data into Excel spreadsheet software. The student will identify the relationship between solar declination and the four seasons and relate seasonal solar radiation patterns to cloud formation. The four seasons ... 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.