Using Mathematical Models to Investigate Planetary Habitability
http://icp.giss.nasa.gov/education/modules/eccm/eccm_student_3.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)


These are the student pages for a lesson plan which includes three activities. The purpose of the first activity is to obtain data necessary to precisely describe the relationships between energy arriving at an object located at a certain distance from an energy source. In the second activity a simple computer model will be created to determine the black body surface temperature of planets in the solar system. Mathematical equations will be used to modify given inputs to obtain desired results. The third activity requires the average albedo of the earth to be used as an input to the Global Equilibrium Energy Balance Interactive Tinker Toy (GEEBITT) Excel spreadsheet to determine a model value for the average surface temperature of the earth, which is then compared with the true value. Then the same process is performed for similar comparisons for Mars and Venus. Each activity has an overview, a list of materials, objectives, a procedure and all of the required worksheets. Teachers' notes are also included.

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This resource originally cataloged at:

DLESE

Subject: Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Geoscience:Lunar and Planetary Science
Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), High School (9-12)
Theme: Teach the Earth:Incorporating Societal Issues:Climate Change, Teach the Earth:Course Topics:Planetary Science, Atmospheric Science