Latitude and Longitude Activity Source: Geological Society of America, Adapted with permission. You may have seen or used Global Positioning System (GPS) devices in cars or on camping trips. These devices use data from satellites orbiting the Earth to locate places on our planet. GPS devices describe the locations to us in the form of latitude and longitude coordinates. Citizen scientists involved in the Geological Society of America’s EarthCaching project (http://www. [Read More]

Soil Moisture Activity Source: Soil Science Society of America Soil moisture is the water stored in the soil and is affected by precipitation, temperature, soil characteristics, and more. These same factors help determine the type of biome present, and the suitability of land for growing crops. The health of our crops relies upon an adequate supply of moisture and soil nutrients, among other things. As moisture availability declines, the normal function and growth of plants are disrupted, and crop yields are reduced. [Read More]

Solar Cell Energy Nationwide Activity Source: Adapted with permission by NASA. MY NASA DATA microsets are created using data from NASA Earth science satellite missions. A microset is a small amount of data extracted from a much larger data file. Data is available on the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, ocean, and land surface. Data and related lessons can be used with existing curriculum to help students practice science inquiry and math or technology skills using real measurements of Earth system variables and processes. [Read More]

Temperature and Precipitation Connections Activity Source: Adapted with permission by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. No matter where we are on Earth, we can observe changes in vegetation. Some changes are drastic, such as going from dormant to full growth during a temperate winter. Vegetative growth is dependent on both surface temperature (which influences soil temperature) and precipitation (which influences soil moisture). Together these environmental variables help determine the beginning, duration, and end of the growing season; the latter marked by leaf senescence, when leaves of deciduous trees die and turn colors. [Read More]