Students gain experience using a spreadsheet and working with others to decide how to conduct their model 'experiments' with the NASA GEEBITT (Global Equilibrium Energy Balance Interactive Tinker Toy). This activity helps students become more familiar with the physical processes that made Earth's early climate so different from that of today. Students also acquire first-hand experience with a limitation in modeling, specifically, parameterization of critical processes.

How does energy flow in and out of our atmosphere? Explore how solar and infrared radiation enters and exits the atmosphere with an interactive model. Control the amounts of carbon dioxide and clouds present in the model and learn how these factors can influence global temperature. Record results using snapshots of the model in the virtual lab notebook where you can annotate your observations.

This unit includes 4 lessons where in Biology, students design a proposal or program to help the environment at a tourist location and in Math, students will calculate how tourism affects the economy.

Using inquiry-based reading, students will explore an anchor text and then develop their own essential and supporting questions to guide their research.

Over the course of the unit, students will explore a variety of texts and grow in their knowledge of the impact of tourism on the environment and the economy. They will also grow in their ability to use informational text to support their inquiry and research.

In this worksheet-based activity, students review global visualizations of incoming sunlight and surface temperature and discuss seasonal change. Students use the visualizations to support inquiry on the differences in seasonal change in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and how land and water absorb and release heat differently. The activity culminates in an argument about why one hemisphere experiences warmer summers although it receives less total solar energy.

The “Systems Are Everywhere” module was originally written for high school science teachers or counselors to use in any setting (in class or in extracurricular programs). However, during field-testing, we found that many elementary and middle school teachers were able to use these lessons successfully with their students. The module is made up of three lessons that serve to foster students’ understanding of systems, systems models, and systems thinking at every level of learning and across many content areas. Blended throughout the lessons are career connections that will introduce students to diverse systems thinkers in STEM, and provide context for how systems approaches are used in real life to address complex problems. The lessons and module can be used as a stand-alone set of activities or can be integrated into any course as an extension or enrichment.

The module begins with students modeling a complex system. Students will brainstorm and sketch the parts and connections of the system, then use an online tool (Loopy) to model the interactions of those parts and connections. Next, students will develop their understanding of systems thinking skills and their application for addressing problems and solutions. Then, students will apply their knowledge and skills to model a system of their choosing. Lastly, they will showcase their skills by creating a student profile and integrating their systems thinking skills into a resume.

Target Audience
This is our introductory module that we recommend teaching before each of our other modules to give students a background in systems and to help them understand the many careers available in STEM. This module can be applied easily to any content area and works best as written for students between 6th and 12th grades but can be adapted for other ages. It works very well when teaching virtually and in-person. If you are looking for an introduction to systems that can be delivered in-person with more kinesthetic activities, please see our Introduction to Systems module. The Intro to Systems module works best with 8-12 grade students, though can be used with some modifications for 6-7th graders. This Systems are Everywhere module can work well for elementary through secondary grades.

An applet about the Milankovitch cycle that relates temperature over the last 400,000 years to changes in the eccentricity, precession, and orbital tilt of Earth's orbit.

In 2014, engineer and stratospheric explorer Alan Eustace ascended via balloon to the stratosphere and then took a freefall plunge of more than 135,000 feet.