The atmosphere is a mixture of gases including nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other trace gases. Additionally, the atmosphere contains small, suspended liquid and particle matter called aerosols. Aerosols come from various sources, both natural and anthropogenic (man-made). Aerosols are important to study and monitor because they have direct and indirect effects on regional weather and global ... Full description.

One of the strongest observed ENSO events of the century began to unfold in 1997. Fortunately, an extensive network of satellite and ocean buoy instruments was prepared to monitor and record the historical event. In this lesson, students will collect data from the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server to understand how scientists detect the onset of El Nino conditions and the reversal to La Nina conditions ... Full description.

There are several factors that influence the climate or prevailing weather conditions for any given location on Earth. The most important factor is the latitude of the location because that affects the amount of solar radiation received throughout the year. Other factors include its distance from a body of water (its moisture source), elevation and local topography. In this 6 to 10 day unit plan, ... Full description.

Using the Internet as a resource to locate and graph scientific data, students will explore the seasonal changes in precipitation for the Costa Rican Region. They will generate and analyze satellite data for precipitation to identify the two seasons of Costa Rica and relate their importance to the travel industry. Full description.

Water is one of Earth's most unique and valuable resources. Thus, the distribution of water on Earth is a very important factor in the evaluation of global climate and its impact on life. In this lesson, students will use historical satellite data to examine precipitable water -- a measure of the water available in the atmosphere from evaporation (in the form of water vapor). They will then compare ... Full description.

Students will make predictions by linking current scientific satellite data to concerns about global climate change. Using maps of sea surface temperature (SST) and ocean surface winds, students will learn how differential heating of Earth results in circulation patterns in the atmosphere and oceans that globally distribute the heat. Students will learn the relationship between the rotation of Earth ... Full description.

Back in the days of Christopher Columbus, voyages made across bodies of water were dependent upon winds and currents to drive the sailing ships. Thus good navigation routes were often determined by prevailing weather conditions such as the Trade Winds, and then discovered by explorers. In this lesson, students will explore the wind climatology for the Atlantic Ocean basin (as determined by satellite ... Full description.

Students often hear that winters were colder or had more snow in the past. This activity will help them to determine if this is a true or accurate statement for their location. Students will access historic weather information from NOAA and NASA internet resources. They will determine changes in average temperatures, precipitation and cloud cover over time from data and relate global changes to local ... Full description.

El Nino and La Nina are important temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean. In this lesson, students will create maps and line graphs of data to compare the effects of El Nino and La Nina at two different longitudinal locations, but at the same latitude, using sea surface temperature and precipitation from real satellite data. Full description.

In this lesson, students use the Live Access Server to research possible trends present in atmospheric and oceanic conditions which may affect future hurricane frequency and or intensity. Students write a summary discussing what steps should be taken, if any, to mitigate the danger of future hurricanes in a selected area. Detailed Procedure and Materials, Vocabulary linked to an On-line glossary, ... Full description.