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Collection: Earth Exploration Toolbook (SERC)
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: The purpose of the Earth Exploration Toolbook is to support the use of scientific datasets, tools, and other products by the broader educational community. The Toolbook provides a collection of earth science datasets and scientific tools along with educational applications of the datasets. Each chapter in the Toolbook presents the specific datasets needed for the exercise, the analysis or visualization tools, clear instructions to the educator who would be using the dataset, and step-by-step instructions that could be given to students. The chapters list the learning goals, inquiry standards and content standards for each activity. Suggestions for further exploration of the data and other ways to use the tool are also provided. The chapters are designed for K-12 and undergraduate college level.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: In this activity, users are guided through a series of simple steps as they learn how to use a very powerful tool, the US-Mexico Demographic Data Viewer. Users find regions on a map, states within each region, and counties within each state. They describe and compare the geographical and socioeconomic characteristics of selected regions within the United States and Mexico. They analyze the data for variables that describe population characteristics to produce color-coded maps that demonstrate the results of the analyses for the various sub-divisions.
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- Abstract: Users download and analyze satellite images showing the amount of ozone in the stratosphere. They interpret the images to identify the ozone "hole" that develops over Antarctica each summer, and compare its size from year to year. Using freely available image analysis software, ImageJ, users quantify the area of the Antarctic ozone hole each October from 1996 to 2004. Finally, they bring their measurements into a spreadsheet program and create a graph to document changes in the size of the ozone hole.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: The Ramsar Wetlands Data Gateway is a database containing information on protected international wetlands. In this activity, users search the database to find a wetland that they are interested in helping to protect. Using the database search capabilities, users select various wetland characteristics and generate a report on the sites that meet their search criteria. Then, they access an interactive map to view the locations and nearby features of the identified wetland sites. Next, they narrow the choices down to a single wetland that they would like to protect and gather further information about it. Finally, users prepare a brief report to persuade others of the value of protecting the site.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This activity of the Earth Exploration Toolbook walks users through a technique for documenting change in before-and-after sets of satellite images. The technique can be used for any set of time-series images that are spatially registered to show the exact same area at the same scale. In the chapter, users examine three Landsat images of the Pearl River delta in southeastern China. In the images, users observe changes in land use over time, then identify and outline areas of new land that were created by dredging sediments from the river bottom. The final product is an annotated image that highlights new land and indicates when it was created.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This chapter familiarizes users with Jules Verne Voyager, a freely available online map tool that includes data for Earth as well as 19 other planets and moons. Users create a variety of map images then save and import the images into a presentation or a word-processing document. In the activity, users explore the range of data that are available to create map images: 100 different types of data are available to characterize portions of Earth. In addition, Voyager has at least one type of data for all planets and moons of the inner solar system. Recent data for Jupiter, Saturn, and many of their moons are also available. In the final part of the activity, users learn a technique that is useful for comparative planetology: they create map images to compare features from different worlds at the same scale, including correctly scaled planet-from-space views of each world.
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- Abstract: In this activity, users download and graph modeled climate data to explore variability in climate change. Most people know that climate changes are predicted over the next hundred years, but they may not be aware that these changes are likely to vary from region to region. Using data from the University of New Hampshire's Earth Science Information Partner, a digital library of Earth Science data, users will obtain annual predictions for minimum temperature, maximum temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation for each of these 5 states: New York, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota, and California. Data will span the years 2000 through 2100. Users will import the data into Excel and analyze it to see what, if any, regional variability exists. Finally, they will download data for their own state, compare these results to the results from the other five states and use their results to answer a series of questions related to climate change.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This activity describes the technique of preparing latitude-longitude based data so it can be imported into a geographic information system (GIS). The chapter describes the steps to create a map to display data and guides users through some basic geographic analyses. The focus of the chapter's case study is earthquake prediction. Users download and format near real-time and historical earthquake data from the USGS. They import the data into ArcVoyager Special Edition GIS software, and analyze patterns by querying records and overlaying datasets. Users examine earthquake distributions, monitor current earthquake activity, and try to predict where the next big earthquake will occur. Any data set that specifies latitude and longitude coordinates can be prepared for importing into a GIS with the techniques described in this chapter. Examples of data sets that can be investigated include stream flow conditions, global land and sea surface temperatures, and data gathered with a GPS.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This activity prepares you to launch an investigation of the relationship between precipitation and streamflow for a local watershed. It can enrich a study of the water cycle. Following the step-by-step instructions in a case study you will locate, download, format, and finally graph one year of Web-based data for these two variables. The graph highlights the details of this often complex precipitation-streamflow relationship and provides a context for launching a classroom discussion of the balance between surface runoff and infiltration during and after a rain event, soil porosity, soil saturation level, the influence of impervious surfaces in a basin, the impact of slope, wind and air temperature on watershed hydrology, and the influence of high or low vegetation. You should allow at least four 45-minute class sessions if you are planning to use this resource in a school setting.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Step-by-step instructions walk users through working with data from a seismic wave model in a freely available GIS (geographic information system) program, ESRI's ArcVoyager SE. Users generate and examine maps and produce graphs to explore variations in seismic wave velocities at depths of 28 and 100 km below Earth's surface. By examining and analyzing GIS-ready data, users visualize density changes and earthquake distributions near a spreading center and two subduction zones. Finally, users will infer the location (depth) of the upper mantle under ocean basins and under continents from their analyses.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Users download and analyze MODIS imagery from 2001 and 2003 to quantify the shrinking of the Aral Sea. The chapter steps users through downloading, installing, and measuring with ImageJ, a freely available image analysis program. Users employ the software to set the spatial calibration of an image, then select and measure distances directly from the image. Measurement results are reported in real-world units. Users also select, measure, and compare the area covered by the sea in three time-series images. The techniques described are useful only for nadir view (straight down) images.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter guides users through the process of locating and graphing data that has been collected by students who participate in the GLOBE Program. Users access the online GLOBE graphing tool and produce a graph comparing four Earth system variables over two complete years. Data include Maximum Air Temperature, Soil Moisture (at depths of both 10 cm and 90 cm), and Rainfall recorded in Greenville, Pennsylvania. As they investigate this specific case study, users discover patterns in the data that reveal seasonal changes in soil moisture. The patterns provide opportunities to discuss such Earth system concepts as the reservoir, the flux or flow of moisture between different reservoirs, and the role of solar energy in driving Earth system processes.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This EET Chapter will introduce you to visualization capabilities available through NASA's Earth Observatory. You'll build several animations of satellite data that illustrate carbon pathways through the Earth system. For instance, you'll build animations of fire images that indicate carbon is being released into the atmosphere. You'll also make animations of plant productivity images that indicate carbon is being removed from the atmosphere and locked into the biosphere. After you've built animations, you'll access another visualization tool to compare sets of other carbon-related data images by controlling their transparency.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: In this activity, users learn about the variables that influence the abundance of phytoplankton, the microscopic plants that form the base of the marine food chain. Users apply this knowledge to make predictions about the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the Gulf of Maine. They obtain and graph data from buoy monitoring stations and interpret them to make their predictions. They check their predictions by examining chlorophyll concentration data at each buoy. Users also compare their predictions with reality by obtaining and examining MODIS satellite images to view the full extent of the bloom over time.
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