Energy and Material Cycles Visualizations

Click here to browse the complete set of Visualization Collections.

Physical Cycles

• Tectonic Cycle

  
  
  
  Tectonics 1.0 (more info) An interactive tectonic puzzle, students can apply the theory of continental drift and attempt to reconstruct the ancient super continent of Pangea.
  
  
  
  Continental Drift (more info) Animation and interactive timeline illustrating continental drift from the Precambrian to Cenozoic.
  
  
  
  The Wilson Cycle (more info) Pictoral description of the Wilson Cycle. Scientific visualizations include drawings of all stages of the Wilson Cycle, a one page summary of the Cycle and a circular depiction of the Wilson Cycle.



• Sea Level Change

  
  

• Sea Ice

  
  Sea Ice Index (more info) This site includes average ice conditions estimated using satellite passive microwave data as well as snapshots of trends and anomalies that compare these recent conditions with the mean for the month. It also includes an interactive animation tool.




• Glacial-Interglacial Cycle

  
  
  
  Glaciers with Time: Climate (more info) A set of visualizations and description of glacial processes through time. Topics include geologic time and the glacial cycle, plate tectonics and glacier formation and Milankovitch Cycles.
  
  
  
  Paleo Slide Set: Polar Ice Cores (more info) A slide set describing NOAA's research effort involving polar ice cores. Visualizations include photographs and graphically represented data gathered from various ice cores.

Biogeochemical Cycles

• Carbon Cycle

  
  
  
  SeaWiFS: NASA Carbon Cycle Initiative (more info) Visualizations related to the NASA's SeaWiFS three year data recording the pulse of the planet. Graphs, animations and visualizations help to show Carbon build up in the air.
  
  
  
  CMDL: Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases (more info) An interactive atmospheric data visualization tool which enables users to view data, obtain details about sampling locations, manipulate and compare data sets and create custom graphs.
  
  
  
  The Carbon Cycle: What goes around comes around. (more info) Part of the Visionlearning module (more info) . Visualizations include illustrations, graphical representations and chemical equations describing the Carbon Cycle.
  

• Hydrologic Cycle




The Hydrologic Cycle (more info) Simple animations, concept maps, modeled data and photographs describing, in detail, the hydrologic cycle. Sections include evaporation, condensation, precipitation, groundwater, runoff, and much more.



San Antonio Water System Flash Animations (more info) Water education animations produced for the San Antonio Water System. Animations are not specific to San Antonio and could be used in any hydrologic cycle unit.