This teaching guide provides hands-on activities and information related to studying the Earth system. Its primary goal is for children to become familiar with the concept of cycles and to learn that some human activities can cause changes in their environment. Full description.

This guide aims to assist educators in instilling interest in learning about meteorology by allowing the learner to take increasing responsibility for his/her learning. It is written as a supplement to existing Earth and space science curricula. The guide is not intended to be a complete course in meteorology; it should be used in conjunction with lectures, discussions, textbooks and other teaching ... Full description.

This guide provides an overview of the Aqua mission, instruments, research, science teams, and Aqua website. This information is provided to aid the professional science writer in writing stories and articles related to the Aqua mission. Note: this guide was produced before Aqua was launched; for the most recent information on Aqua, go to http://aqua.nasa.gov. Full description.

This 5-minute animation portrays fluctuations in the cryosphere through observations collected from a variety of satellite-based sensors. The cryosphere consists of those parts of the Earth's surface where water is found in solid form, including areas of snow, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost, ice sheets, and icebergs. In these regions, surface temperatures remain below freezing for a portion of each ... Full description.

This video describes NASA's Jason mission, a joint U.S.-France oceanography mission, launched in 2001, to monitor global ocean circulation, discover the tie between the oceans and atmosphere, improve global climate predictions and monitor events such as El Nino conditions and ocean eddies. Jason-1 is a follow-on mission to NASA's TOPEX/Poseidon mission. The video was produced before launch, so descriptions ... Full description.

This brochure provides an overview of the Aqua spacecraft, instruments, science, and data products Aqua, Latin for water, is a NASA Earth Science satellite mission named for the large amount of information that the mission is collecting about the Earth's water cycle, including evaporation from the oceans, water vapor in the atmosphere, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, sea ice, land ice, and snow ... Full description.

In this activity, the GLOBE Kids, on their second visit to Willow Creek, discover why the creek looks different. They learn about making observations, measuring water temperature and speed, and looking for critters in the water. In Activity 1, 'Magnify That', students will be able to identify a magnifying lens and its purpose. They will be able to explain how the same object looks different when using ... Full description.

This classroom activity explains how the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites work to provide precise location information to positions on the ground, as well as to other satellites whose job is to map the surface of Earth. The activity is specifically tied to NASA's Jason-1 and Topex/Poseidon spacecraft in their mission to map ocean topography. In addition to the concepts of distance vs. time ... Full description.

This chapter from the Earth Exploration Toolbook guides users through the process of locating and graphing Web-based environmental data that has been collected by students who participate in the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program. Basic concepts in Earth system science are explored as students investigate a specific case study. The GLOBE Graphing Tool is used ... Full description.

This full-color identification chart is intended as a basic guide to observing contrails for scientific investigations being conducted by NASA scientists. It is translated into several languages and is designed help to motivate students throughout the world to become involved with a real-time collaborative scientific experiment. Full description.