The type of climate present in a particular location depends on several variables, including surface temperature and annual precipitation. One indicator of a locale' s climate is the vegetation present, a relationship used by the Koeppen system of climate classification. Using a microset of satellite data to investigate vegetation of a particular climate zone, students will identify factors that influence ... 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 member of an International Team of Marine Biologists tasked with predicting and monitoring possible harmful algae blooms. They will evaluate changes in the ocean's chlorophyll counts from 1997-2007 using data sets from MyNASAData website, draw conclusions about how the chlorophyll-a levels in the ocean may effect its ecological characteristics and infer ... Full description.

Researchers such as paleoclimatologists or dendrochronologists use tree ring analyses as one tool to reconstruct climate information about the past. They will often reference data from other sources such as historical weather records, and ice core or ocean core samples to support their findings. In this lesson students will utilize monthly average precipitation data to strengthen conclusions about ... Full description.

The Darby Creek watershed encompasses an area of approximately 550 square miles in central Ohio. The Big and Little Darby Creeks are well known for their vast diversity and abundance of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals. They are home to eighty-six species of fish, five of which are endangered. Forty-one species of freshwater mollusks live in these waters, eight of which are on the Ohio endangered ... Full description.

Students will use NASA Satellite data to analyze and understand ways of studying photosynthesis from space. They will assume the role of a park ranger at Shenandoah National Park and determine when the plants and trees at their top efficiency by analyzing when the plants are absorbing a majority of the light hitting them (within the photosynthetic range.) Full description.

Phytoplankton, microscopic floating plant-like marine organisms (plankton means wanderer) are at the bottom of the marine food chain. They perform photosynthesis using water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to produce glucose for their own use, as well as oxygen. Humans and all land animals and sea creatures are dependent on phytoplankton. The chlorophyll in phytoplankton can be observed by remote sensing ... 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.

Students will use NASA satellite data to study temperature and snow-ice coverage in the South Beaufort Sea, Alaska. The data can be used to correlate with USGS ground tracking of polar bears, and to relate this to global change, sea ice changes, and polar bear migration. The data can be used to draw conclusions surrounding any migration patterns in the region. Full description.

In this lesson, students will investigate the relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and chlorophyll-a measurements in a local watershed. They will compare two data sets to find correlations and explain the importance of carbon dioxide and photosynthetic plants in the carbon cycle. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to relate global climate change to local effects. Full description.