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flask You are now in the Experiments section. Listed below are interactive experiments that can be used to teach all ages about the art and science of space-based Remote Sensing. The experiments focus on how NASA uses Remote Sensing to study how and why Earth changes.
 

Earth Observatory Activities

Global Warming
The Earth’s average temperature rose by more than half a degree Celsius over the last century. What caused this change? Join NASA’s Earth Observatory Team in an investigation into the causes and effects of global warming.

Image Composite Editor (ICE)
ICE logoThe Image Composite Editor is designed to be an easy first step into the realm of Earth system science, image processing, data analysis, and satellite remote sensing via your Web browser. ICE is a java applet with several modes for analysing remote sensing data, including color image composites with multiple wavelengths, display of time series, mathematical functions between multiple datasets, and analysis tools such as scatterplots and histograms.

Patterns of Change
These twelve activities, using Quicktime movies and 3-D snapshots of Earth, allow students and educators to observe our planet's patterns of change, over time and space, and to think critically about what might be the causes and effects of those changes. The activities can be used independently of one another or as a series.

Mission: Biomes
The following two activities are designed for teachers to use in classrooms as supplementary, interdisciplinary units. Mission: Biomes is especially appropriate for grades 3 through 8, and is designed to be interactive and self-correction which will allow each student to work at his or her own pace.

    Great Graph Match
    Geo Grapher needs your help to match temperature and precipitation graphs for different locations to the biomes where they belong.

    To Plant or Not to Plant?
    Travel with Bill Botanist on an expedition to each of the world's biomes. Help him study his plant specimens and choose the best possible biome to plant each one in.

Fire Detection with False-Color Images
compositorBuild a composite false-image of a scene of the Amazon rainforest using 3 of the fifty bands provided by the MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) Compositer. Learn how various bands of the electromagnetic spectrum can be combined to show things that the normal human eye can’t detect. In this case it’s the difference between fire, smoke, and clouds.

Related Activities

Event-Based Science: Remote Sensing Activities
The Event-Based Science (EBS) Project is working with a grant from NASA and scientists from the Goddard Space Flight Center to produce remote sensing activities that are tied directly to EBS modules. Although EBS remote-sensing activities are designed for use with middle school students who are using EBS modules, they are available free to everyone.

Earthquake!
Photo of an Earthquake
FaultThis pair of lessons uses satellite imagery to investigate earthquake faults near San Francisco, California. Urban Sprawl asks students to compare maps of earthquake locations to regions of urban growth shown by satellite data. Students evaluate recent seismic activity near geologic faults in Active or Not? That Is The Question.

Fire!
Photo of a Forest FireUsing a series of satellite images, students will evaluate effects of the 1988 forest fires in Yellowstone National Park. Data from before the fires, the year after the fires, and a decade after the fires show several stages of forest progression.

Flood!
Photo of
a Flooded TruckStudents look for evidence of changes in river channels using imagery from the 1993 floods on the Missouri River. This lesson also discusses oxbows and floodplains.

Hurricane!
Photo of Storm-swept Palm
TreesHurricane! is an Event-Based Science module about one of the most devastating weather events that people can experience.

Oil Spill!
Charleston HarborOil Spill! is an Event-Based Science module about oceanography. It uses the 1989 spill of over 10 million gallons of oil from the tanker Exxon Valdez to establish the context for exploring concepts related to shoreline oceanography. The task in Oil Spill! requires students to examine competing sites for a new oil terminal. Students acquire then use their new knowledge of tides, currents, marine life, and harbor topography to advise an oil company.

Blight!
Photo of Wilted Corn StalkIn this lesson students will use meteorological data and satellite images to determine weather patterns that lead to drought, and use satellite imagery and drought maps to investigate how crops respond.

   
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