A product of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this website features sections entitled "Learn the Basics," "See the Impacts," "Think Like a Scientist," and "Be Part of the Solution" through which participants gain a deeper understanding of... (View More) climate change issues. This resource is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change. (View Less)

In this activity, students face an engineering challenge based on real-world applications. They are tasked with developing a tool they can use to measure the amount of rain that falls each day. Students will find out why freshwater is important,... (View More) learn about the water cycle, and the need to have a standard form of calibration for measurement tools. They will learn that keeping track of precipitation is important, and learn a little bit about how NASA's GPM satellite measures precipitation from space. This lesson uses the 5-E instructional model. (View Less)

In this activity, participants learn about the atmosphere by making observations and taking measurements. They will go outside and use scientific equipment to collect atmospheric moisture data (temperature, relative humidity, precipitation and cloud... (View More) cover). Students will use this qualitative and quantitative data to understand how water is found in the atmosphere, how the atmosphere determines weather and climate, and how Earth’s spheres are connected through the water cycle. The data collection is based on protocols from the GLOBE program. This activity uses the 5E instructional model and is part of the "Survivor Earth" series of one-hour lessons. (View Less)

In this activity, students will watch a short video on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, learn about the parts of the satellite, and then construct their own edible model of GPM. This lesson uses the 5E instructional model and is... (View More) part of the Survivor: Earth series of ten lessons. (View Less)

This activity allows participants to build a paper model of the GPM Core Observatory and learn about the technology the satellite uses to measure precipitation from space. Directions explain how to cut, fold and glue the individual pieces together... (View More) to make the model. The accompanying information sheet has details about the systems in the satellite including the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI), the High Gain Antenna, avionics and star trackers, propulsion system and solar array, as well as a math connection and additional engineering challenges. (View Less)

In this activity, students analyze a 2011 article by physicist Dr. Richard Muller addressing the climate change skeptic's claim that the scientific data used to support global warming is poor or unreliable. He headed a two-year study where his... (View More) research team examined sources of data independently of climate scientists, and concluded that despite the imperfections in the available data sets, scientists have managed to avoid bias in data collection and correction. A student worksheet provides questions to guide the investigation. This activity is supported by a textbook chapter, What is Global Warming?, part of the unit, Climate Change, in Global Systems Science (GSS), an interdisciplinary course for high school students that emphasizes how scientists from a wide variety of fields work together to understand significant problems of global impact. (View Less)

In this guided research investigation, students investigate the process of science and build media literacy by studying the public debate about climate change. Students compare media articles from 1989-2010, and observe that statements differ... (View More) according to the source and publication date. Links to the articles are provided. This activity is supported by a textbook chapter, What is Global Warming?, part of the unit, Climate Change, in Global Systems Science (GSS), an interdisciplinary course for high school students that emphasizes how scientists from a wide variety of fields work together to understand significant problems of global impact. (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)

With this lesson plan, students observe a demonstration of cloud formation that uses a 2L plastic beverage bottle and other simple ingredients to learn the three factors required for cloud formation. A test and a control experiment are conducted.... (View More) Detailed procedure and materials, vocabulary linked to an on-line glossary, and teacher notes are provided. This activity is related to the NASA CERES Students Cloud Observations Online (S'COOL) project. (View Less)