This online, facilitated course is designed for middle-school educators wishing to teach global climate change using an inquiry/problem-based approach. Teachers access the course by registering with PBS TeacherLine and enrolling in the course. The... (View More) course supports teaching global climate change using a problem-solving approach and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) methodology to engage middle-school students and help them understand the causes and effects of climate change and learn about the differences between climate and weather and how actions and nature affect the environment. The course includes pedagogic support for educators who are interested in using Web 2.0 tools when teaching about climate change in the classroom. Enhance content knowledge of climate change and learn how to effectively implement STEM instructional strategies using resources from NASA and WGBH’s Teachers’ Domain. (View Less)

This chapter describes how to set a scale and measure distances and areas on satellite images. Using ImageJ, a freely available image analysis program that runs on most operating systems, users set the spatial calibration of an image, then select... (View More) and measure distances and areas on it. The measurement results are reported in real-world units. The technique is most useful and accurate for nadir view (straight down) images. In this chapter, users examine satellite images of the Aral Sea, which has shrunk dramatically since 1960 because the rivers that flow into it have been tapped for irrigation. Users access satellite images of the region, then set a scale and measure the width of the sea each year. On another set of images, they highlight areas that represent water and measure them to see how these areas of the sea changed. This chapter is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook, which provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page. (View Less)

This chapter walks users through a technique for documenting change in before-and-after sets of satellite images. The technique can be used for any set of time-series images that are spatially registered to show the exact same area at the same... (View More) scale. In the chapter, users examine three Landsat images of the Pearl River delta in southeastern China. In these images, users observe changes in land use, then identify and outline areas of new land that were created by dredging sediments from the river bottom. The final product is an annotated image that highlights new land and indicates when it was created. The chapter is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook, which provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page. (View Less)

In this activity, users download and graph modeled climate data to explore variability in climate change. Most people know that climate changes are predicted over the next hundred years, but they may not be aware that these changes are likely to... (View More) vary from region to region. Using data from the University of New Hampshire's EOS-WEBSTER, a digital library of Earth Science data, users will obtain annual predictions for minimum temperature, maximum temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation for each of these 5 states: New York, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota, and California. Data will span the years 2000 through 2100. Users will import the data into Excel and analyze it to see what, if any, regional variability exists. Finally, they will download data for their own state, compare these results with the results from the other 5 states and use their results to answer questions related to climate change. This chapter is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET). Each EET chapter provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page. (View Less)

Students will be guided through the process of locating and graphing web-based environmental data that has been collected by GLOBE Program participants. This chapter highlights the opportunities for using GLOBE Program data to introduce basic... (View More) concepts of Earth system science. It is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook, which provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page. (View Less)

Users explore data, using My World GIS, that characterize the dynamic Greenland Ice Sheet. By examining photographs, map views, and tabular data, users gain an understanding of how and why scientists are monitoring the ice sheet and what they are... (View More) finding. Users explore map layers that represent ice sheet thickness, weather station locations, and annual melt extents of the ice sheet. They learn about the working conditions that Arctic scientists must endure to collect their data, and how sensors on satellites are used to gather information from an area as large as Greenland. Finally, users learn about scientists' methods for measuring ice flowing downhill from Greenland, and examine that data to learn how fast the ice is moving. This chapter is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook, which provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page. (View Less)

This activity's storyline is built around the real-life case study of Dr. Walt Meier, a Sea Ice Scientist from Boulder, Colorado. In the fictional story, the students of Churchill become concerned about wildlife in their region because polar bears... (View More) have become a nuisance in the town. According to the local elders, the sea ice patterns have changed. The students turn to Dr. Meier for his expertise in sea ice analysis. Dr. Meier then instructs the students in the use of ImageJ and guides them through the research process. This chapter is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET). Each EET chapter provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page. (View Less)

In this chapter, students will explore relationships between air quality and population density using the image visualization tool, Google Earth. You will learn how to download NO2 data and analyze them to develop a conceptual understanding of how... (View More) population and topography can influence the air quality of a region. Once you have learned the techniques, you are encouraged to explore seasonal changes in nitrogen dioxide concentrations at other locations. This chapter is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET). Each EET chapter provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page. (View Less)

In this lesson, students will use real satellite data to determine the changes in near-surface air temperature over the Caribbean Sea at different times of the year. Step-by-step instructions for use of the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS)... (View More) guide students through selecting a data set, importing the data into a spreadsheet, creating graphs, and analyzing data plots. The lesson provides detailed procedures, related links and sample graphs, follow-up questions, extensions, and teacher notes. Designed for student use, MY NASA DATA LAS samples micro datasets from large scientific data archives, and provides structured investigations engaging students in exploration of real data to answer real world questions. (View Less)

In this lesson students will investigate nitrogen dioxide levels in the atmosphere over a one-year period. The students will have to look at several regions from around the world to draw conclusions regarding NO2 amounts. From the plots, students... (View More) will have to brainstorm the reasons behind the variability in NO2 concentrations. Detailed procedures, materials, vocabulary linked to an online glossary, and teachers notes are provided. This lesson is from the MY NASA DATA project, which has created microsets from large scientific data sets, and wrapped them with tools, lesson plans, and supporting documentation so that a teacher, or anyone in the interested public, can use authentic NASA Earth system science data. (View Less)