Teaching Notes OLD

Grade Level

This chapter serves a dual purpose. It is designed primarily as a activity that emphasizes the dynamic nature of Earth's atmosphere using the power and utility of remote sensing. The secondary, but equally important purpose, is to serve as a professional development activity for science teachers. It is a NASA Earth Observation (NEO) satellite data interface tutorial taught in the context of a Earth science lesson.

Learning Goals

After completing this chapter, students will be able to:

  1. Use NEO to display Earth system satellite data

  2. Use NEO to explore geographic and time-series patterns in a single data set

  3. Use NEO to explore, graph, and analyze spatial and temporal variation and covariation in satellite images

  4. Describe the relationships between atmospheric carbon dioxide and aerosol concentrations

  5. Investigate the possible sources of CO and aerosols

Rationale

This chapter provides a computer-based activity to supplement and reinforce classroom and laboratory study of the Earth's atmosphere. Given a basic background in the physical and chemical composition and structure of the atmosphere, students will explore how concentrations of carbon monoxide and aerosols change from month to month in different locations around the world. They will learn to identify and analyze atmospheric patterns of variation and covariation in space and time, using covariation between the two compounds as a clue to identify their sources. In addition, students will begin to understand that even trace gases like carbon monoxide, and aerosol particles such as dust and smoke, can have a significant direct and indirect effect on how the Earth system functions.

By exploring and analyzing these patterns in NEO, students (and teachers) will gain the ability and confidence to initiate their own inquiry (or Earth science lessons) into the exciting realm of NASA remotely sensed Earth system data. After completing the activity, both students and teachers will be able to use NEO in a wide range of Earth system, geographic, ecological, and even social-science studies of our ever changing planet.

Background Information

Teachers will want to feel comfortable identifying patterns in a single satellite image, and in multiple images, and will have to know basic continental and regional physical geography, and a little about the social / cultural situation in their areas of interest. The case study itself focuses on two very different areas, central Africa and central China, and physical and cultural information is provided on those through various NASA and other links. But students may begin to deviate from these two area in the third Step, when they build their own animation. It will (or it should) be up to them to then discover something about these areas as they relate to the spatial and temporal patterns of carbon dioxide and aerosols.

How Satellite Sensors like MODIS and MOPITT Monitor the Earth

NASA's TERRA Satellite (more info)
MODIS Web at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
MODIS Aerosol data at Goddard Spece Flight Center

Satellite Orbits, and Near Real-time Satellite Monitoring

NASA JTrack 3-D Satellite Orbit Utility
USGS EarthNow! Landsat Image Viewer

Instructional Strategies

NEO is introduced using a logical, step-by-step approach that develops a basic understanding of the NEO interface and Image Composite Explorer (ICE) tool via exploring remotely sensed images of the Earth's atmosphere. Students begin with an introduction to the NEO interface. This is followed by exploring patterns within a single dataset image, Aerosol Optical Thickness at a specific date range. They will learn to measure the area of high concentration - the atmospheric plume, the level of concentration, and the geographic pattern of the plume. This exploration will develop and enforce the concept of spatial variation within a single dataset. Once they begin to see how patterns vary within a single image, they are then shown how to explore variation between images acquired at slightly different times, one month apart. As they undertake these explorations of spatial and temporal variability, they will be learning how to use NEO and the NEO ICE tool.

Once they are comfortable exploring variation in space and time within a single dataset, they will be introduced, in Part 3, to a second closely related dataset, carbon monoxide (CO). The two datasets share certain properties - they are both satellite-acquired, atmospheric datasets that were acquired using very similar methods. Both datasets offer global coverage at overlapping time frames - they are monthly averages. Yet they offer an interesting and highly valuable lesson in Earth system science - in some cases both carbon dioxide and aerosols have the same source, while in others cases they do not. Thus, students can exploit the properties of covariation in concentration between these two datasets, in conjunction with regional geographic information, to determine their respective sources. This strategy will result in two outcomes; 1) students learn how to use a valuable Earth science tool, NEO; and 2.) they learn an important characteristic of the Earth system itself - how to use system dynamics - variation in space and time - to better understand how Earth's atmosphere is changing, and why it is changing. The activity ends with a brief discussion about the possible impacts, or results, of these changes.

Science Standards

The following National Science Education Standards are supported by this chapter:

Grades 7-8

Grades 9-12

Science as inquiry

Physical Science

Earth and Space Science

Science and Technology

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives - Environmental Quality

History and Nature of Science