Line plots are a useful way to display data especially change over time. During this lesson, students will view NASA data displaying the amount of the Sun's energy absorbed in Australia throughout one calendar year. This lesson also allows students to connect the idea that the sun heats up land, air, and water. Students will practice drawing conclusions based on graphed data. Full description.

Energy from the sun reaches the Earth and some is absorbed by the air, land, and water. Some of the energy is reflected back into space, meaning it does not heat the land, air, or water. In this lesson students will read a color plot of Earth's absorption of the sun's radiation. They will evaluate causes for difference in absorption rates at different points around the world and draw conclusions about ... Full description.

For this lesson, students will assume the role of an outdoor sports event planner. They will evaluate changes in air quality over a one year time frame based on a review of Air Quality-Carbon Monoxide Data and quantitative line graphs. The data will be used to make an informed decision about the best times of the year to plan for outdoor and indoor sports activities. Full description.

In this lesson, students will investigate changes in air quality due to human interaction particularly burning of fossil fuels, and crop burning which increase levels of carbon monoxide. Students will evaluate changes in air quality over a 6 month time frame using Air Quality-Carbon Monoxide Data and draw conclusions based on observing color plot comparison graphs. Full description.

In this lesson,students will play the role of a sailboat captain in The Hamptons, an upscale vacation venue, who must schedule sailing trips to amuse tourists and make money for the company. Using Monthly Wind Speed data from 1995-2005 from MyNASAData website, students will evaluate changes in the monthly wind speed, draw conclusions about how wind speed will effect their company positively or negatively, ... Full description.

In this lesson,students will evaluate a location in the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere to determine the areas best for collecting solar power. Changes in surface radiation will be evaluated using Monthly Surface Radiation data from 2007 from MyNASAData website. Students will draw conclusions about how surface radiation levels will affect choice of solar power plant location selection ... Full description.

Snow and ice are both precipitation, that is, the processes that remove water from clouds. Clouds, regions of the atmosphere with high relative humidity, are made of droplets of water and perhaps bits of ice. Even though water is much denser than air, these droplets and ice crystals are small enough to be suspended by random upward air motion. When these droplets or crystals join together, gravity ... Full description.

In this lesson, students will use NASA satellite measurements of atmospheric pressure to learn that pressure decreases with height in the atmosphere. Full description.

Solar radiation (light) strikes Earth's surface throughout the daylight hours. Radiation (heat or infrared) also leaves the Earth during daylight and at night. Averaged over time and space, these downward and upward energy fluxes are equal. If they were not, our planet would gradually heat up or gradually cool down. But the surface of our planet is not simply a mirror for radiation. Some of the incoming ... Full description.

Climate is the long-term weather conditions for a region, generally determined by 30 or more years of records. Climate zones can be defined using parameters such as temperature and rainfall. In this lesson, students will make climatic diagrams called climographs which will relate weather and climate for a particular location. Monthly average values of weather data such as temperature and precipitation ... Full description.