Students will learn about magnification and how a magnifying lens works. They will examine a variety of different objects, first without a magnifier and then with a magnifier, and compare what they observe. They will practice observing details of these objects with magnifying lens. The purpose of this activity is for students to learn about observation skills and how tools can help people make observations, what "magnification" means, and to learn that scientists use tools, such as magnifying lenses, to examine objects. Students will be able to identify a magnifying glass and its purposes. They will be able to describe how the same object looks different when using the unaided eye versus a magnifying lens.

Students will use various objects in the classroom to experiment with nonstandard measurement. They will make estimates and test them out. Then, working in pairs or small groups, students will use a ruler or a measuring tape to become familiar with how to use these tools for standard linear measurement. The purpose of this activity is to practice making standard and non-standard measurement and to learn the purpose of making linear measurements and how to apply them to scientific investigations. Students will learn how to make measurements, both nonstandard and standard (with a ruler). They will test their estimates and record their results.

A learning activity for the Scoop on Soils book in the Elementary GLOBE Series. Students will make predictions about what they think they will find in a sample of soil. They will investigate the sample and sort out the various items they find. Next they will spend time outside observing one or more sites to see what they find in the soil. After recording and sharing their observations they will create their own stories about the things they found in the soil. The purpose of the activity is to learn about natural things commonly found in soil and how these things impact how the soil looks and feels as well as to introduce students to the concept of decomposition. After completing this activity, students will know about various things found in soil including rocks, critters, roots, and other organic material. They will also understand that animals and microorganisms aid in the decomposition process that contributes organic materials to soils.

Using a color chart, students will make observations outside during each of the four seasons. During each session, they will try to find as many colors as possible and record what they see. As a class, they will make charts describing the colors they find in each season. At the end of the school year, students will compare their results and generate conclusions about variations in colors in nature both within a season and between different seasons. The purpose of this activity is to provide the opportunity for students to make observations in nature and compare their results, to help students understand seasonal changes as they relate to colors in their environment, and to engage students in active observation and recording skills. After completing this activity, students will understand how colors in nature relate to their local environment and to seasonal changes within that environment. Students will practice observation and recording skills, make comprehensive comparisons, and will form a hypothesis based on the information they have assembled throughout the school year.

A learning activity for the "Do You Know That Clouds Have Names?" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. Students will explore the difference between the three types of contrails, make observations of contrails outside, and record their observations. Fifteen minutes later they will make follow-up observations to see how the contrails they observed have changed. The purpose of the activity is to help students identify contrails and learn to distinguish between the three types of contrails and to understand that contrails are human-made and some contrails become clouds in the sky. Students will be able to (1) identify the three types of contrails; (2) understand that contrails are created by jet airplanes; and (3) understand that some contrails become clouds.

A learning activity for the Scoop on Soils book in the Elementary GLOBE Series. Each student will explore three activities that promote understanding of and respect for soil. They will generate responses to the following questions: "What makes up soil?" and "What lives in the soil?" Next the students will watch a demonstration of how much soil there is on Earth that is available for human use. Last they will create their own soil connection sentences. The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the importance of soil and why it needs to be studied, to help students understand how much soil is available on Earth for human use, and to help students understand the connection between soil and how it is used by living things. After completing this activity, students will understand the importance of soil science, comprehend the relative amounts of usable soil that exists on Earth, and learn the function of soil as it pertains to animals, plants and humans.

A learning activity for the "All About Earth: Our World on Stage" book in the Elementary GLOBE series. One of the "big ideas" in Earth system science is the notion of interaction among parts of the Earth system. In the Elementary GLOBE book All About Earth: Our World on Stage, the children in Ms. Patel's class discuss instances of how the four major spheres of Earth's system interact. They symbolize these interactions by using large arrows to link the system components: air, water, soil, living things and the Sun. In this activity, students continue to explore the idea of interaction among Earth components as they identify processes in the Earth system and indicate how they illustrate an interaction between two of the Earth system components. The purpose of the activity is to help students deepen their understanding of interconnections among Earth's systems, help students to identify processes where Earth's systems are interacting, and to provide practice in the observation and recording of natural phenomena. After completing this activity, students will understand that Earth system interactions are all around them, going on all the time, and that Earth's processes are interconnected. They will learn how to make observations and identify the interactions they illustrate.

This is a hands-on lab activity about evaporation. Learners will conduct experiments to observe the process of evaporation. They will then describe the process of evaporation, and the general water cycle, through discussion and pictures. Background information, common preconceptions, a glossary and more is included. This activity is part of the Aquarius Hands-on Laboratory Activities.

Using the 5E instructional model, students discover the value of using color maps to visualize data. The activity requires students to create a color map of the ozone hole from Dobson data values derived from the Aura satellite. Students then interpret that map and compare and evaluate different color scales. Note that this is the Spanish version of Exploring Color Maps: Using Stratospheric Ozone Data.

In this activity, student teams conduct a quantitative exploration of the connections between parts of the Earth system, through examination of a time series of environmental data maps. By investigating the connections between environmental data, they see how Earth processes interact on varying time and spatial scales.This is one of six interrelated learning activities in the student activity guide associated with the GLOBE Earth System Poster, “Exploring Connections in Year 2007.” A series of assessment and extension activities are included.

Through the use of the 5E instructional model, students discover the value of using color maps to visualize data. The activity requires students to create a color map of the ozone hole from Dobson data values derived from the Aura satellite. Students then interpret that map and compare and evaluate different color scales.

Student teams explore atmospheric aerosols, dust, and fires and their impact on the Earth's albedo using NASA Earth Observations (NEO) website. This is an extension activity in the student learning activity guide accompanying the GLOBE Earth System Poster, Exploring Connections in Year 2007. A series of six learning activities and associated assessment activities are included.

In this activity, student teams explore connections between parts of the Earth system, by examining a time series of environmental data maps. By examining scientific visualizations of a data pair in two time slices, they will see that the environment is the result of the interplay among many processes that take place on varying time and spatial scales. This is one of six interrelated learning activities associated with the GLOBE Earth System Poster, Exploring Connections in Year 2007, which also includes a series of assessment and extension activities. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.

In this activity, student teams explore the connections between parts of the Earth system by examining a time series of environmental data maps. They observe that the environment is the result of the interplay among many processes that take place on varying time and spatial scales, by looking at different six different variables during a single month: insolation, surface temperature, cloud fraction, aerosols, precipitation and biosphere (surface vegetation). This is one of six interrelated learning activities in the student activity guide associated with the GLOBE Earth System Poster, Exploring Connections in Year 2007. A series of assessment and extension activities are included. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.

In this activity, student teams explore the connections between parts of the Earth system by examining a time series of environmental data maps. Each student teams examines images for two variables and determines if there is a direct or inversely proportional relationship exhibited between them throughout the year. The variable pairs that student groups are observing include: insolation and surface temperature; cloud fraction and precipitation; aerosols and biosphere. This is one of six interrelated learning activities associated with the GLOBE Earth System Poster, "Exploring Connections in Year 2007," and includes a series of assessment and extension activities. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.

In this activity, student teams explore connections between parts of the Earth system, by examining a time series of environmental data maps. Each team examines a single variable displayed on a global data map, and identify the unit of measure, the range of values, and patterns they observe in the data. Variables include: insolation, surface temperature, precipitation, cloud fraction, aerosols, biopshere. This is one of six interrelated learning activities associated with the GLOBE Earth System Poster, "Exploring Connections in Year 2007," and includes a series of assessment and extension activities. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.

Students will explore time series plots and raw data to understand the role of sea surface temperature increases on arctic ice melt. This is part three of a four-part activity on polar science. The activity builds on the knowledge gained in Using Data and Images to Understand Albedo (part 2). Extension activities examining air and sea surface temperature in relation to changing Earth albedo are included. Information is provided on data access using the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Web site. This activity is one of several learning activities connected with the 2007 GLOBE Earth system poster.

Research physical scientist, Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum, is featured in this short (~3 min.) video. Dr. Kirschbaum explains how the integration of her initial interest in math and her subsequent interest in the science of natural disasters lead to her career focus of landslide modeling. Now part of the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) team, she communicates about the GPM mission and data to the public and to others who use it in their work and/or research.

In this video from Common Ground and Cleaner Water, Tribby Vice, a Kentucky farmer, talks about the changes he has made on his farm to protect the water quality of the stream running through his property and the watershed in which he lives.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists in western Greenland explain how a glacier there is shrinking and moving faster due to increased melting.