Interested in becoming a citizen scientist? Join Dr. Michelle Thaller as she explains how the general public, using scientific protocols, careful observations and accurate measurements, can help NASA make exciting new discoveries. NASA eClips™ are... (View More) short, relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections. The Real World series of NASA eClips™ connects classroom mathematics to 21st century careers and innovations and are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem-solving. (View Less)

Acting as the ICESat-2 satellite, students investigate the reflection of light photons off Earth's surface by catching and recording a number of photons. Using bouncy balls to represent the photons, students drop, let bounce once and try to catch in... (View More) one hand as many balls (photons) as possible. Drops occur on carpeted and non-carpeted areas, and with and without the presence of cardboard buildings, to represent different Earth surfaces. The lesson includes background information, instructions and concluding questions. Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are listed. (View Less)

A Hovmuller plot is a diagram that visibly displays data patterns from a selected latitude or longitude over a time period. Through a storyline and several samples, students are introduced to a Hovmuller plot of temperature data along a longitude in... (View More) the eastern United States. Students then create salinity and precipitation plots using data from the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server. (View Less)

In this video clip, join scientists and teachers as they learn how to measure some of the abiotic conditions of winter. Find out about latent heat, how thermochrons can be used to collect data points and the importance of snow:water equivalents.... (View More) NASA eClips™ are short, relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections. The Real World series of NASA eClips™ connects classroom mathematics to 21st century careers and innovations and are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem-solving. (View Less)

See how NASA is using a rolling spheres lightning protection system to expand the cone of safety currently used on Launch Complex 39. NASA eClips™ are short, relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping... (View More) them see real world connections. The Real World series of NASA eClips™ connects classroom mathematics to 21st century careers and innovations and are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem-solving. (View Less)

In this video clip, learn about precipitation and how clouds are formed. Find out why scientists study clouds and how students can help NASA collect cloud observation data. NASA eClips™ are short, relevant educational video segments. These videos... (View More) inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections. The Real World series of NASA eClips™ connects classroom mathematics to 21st century careers and innovations and are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem-solving. (View Less)

In this video clip, see how NASA measures soil moisture from space with the Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission (SMAP). Learn to calculate soil moisture in your own backyard and discover the real world applications for this data. NASA eClips™ are... (View More) short, relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections. The Real World series of NASA eClips™ connects classroom mathematics to 21st century careers and innovations and are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem-solving. (View Less)

In this video clip, viewers learn about the cryosphere - all of Earth's frozen structures including sea ice, ice caps, and permafrost. Understanding changes in the cryosphere provides scientists with valuable information about the past, present, and... (View More) future of the planet. ICESat-2 is a satellite designed to help scientists learn more about Earth's ice and the role ice plays in climate. NASA eClips™ are short, relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections. The Real World series of NASA eClips connects classroom mathematics to 21st century careers and innovations and are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem-solving. (View Less)

This set of three videos illustrates how math is used in satellite data analysis. NASA climate scientist Claire Parkinson explains how the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice covers are measured from satellite data and how math is used to determine trends... (View More) in the data. In the first video, she leads viewers from satellite data collection through obtaining a time series of monthly Arctic and Antarctic average sea ice extents for November 1978-December 2012. In the second video, she begins with the time series from the first video, removes the seasonal cycle by calculating yearly averages, and proceeds to calculate the slopes of the lines to get trends in the data, revealing decreasing sea ice coverage in the Arctic and increasing sea ice coverage in the Antarctic. In the third video, she uses a more advanced technique to remove the seasonal cycle and shows that the trends are close to the same, whichever method is used. She emphasizes the power of math and that the techniques shown for satellite sea ice data can also be applied to a wide range of data sets. Note: See Related & Supplemental Resources for the maps and data files (1978-2015) that will allow you to do the calculations shown in the video. These also include data for different regions of the Arctic and Antarctic, enabling learners to do additional calculations beyond those shown in the videos. (View Less)

Students work in groups to investigate one of the following factors driving climate change: greenhouse gases, sea level rise and melting sea ice. The investigation involves conducting an experiment, connecting to real-world data and presenting a... (View More) poster summary of their findings. The lesson includes experiment procedures (with pictures), a rubric for poster evaluation, a Powerpoint presentation (incorporating NASA videos), extensions, and additional resources. (View Less)