Classroom Activities
| Title | Description | Keywords | DLESE (external link)Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| For Grades K-12 | |||
| Mission Geography (external link) |
These curriculum support materials link the content, skills, and perspectives of Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards with the missions, research, and science of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). | K-4: Maps, physical and
human landscapes, population distribution, satellite perspective.
5-8: Volcanic aerosols, Mars – Earth comparison, human footprint, environmental change, urban heat island, “geo-archeology”. 9-12: Water resources, Chesapeake Bay, Aral Sea, Nile, southwest US snow, climate change |
read DLESE summary (external link) |
| For Grades K-4 | |||
| The Adventures of Amelia the Pigeon | Teacher’s Guide, classroom activities, and a book support student mapping skills, understanding of perspective, and animal habitats; and provide a basic introduction to remote sensing. | introduction to remote sensing; mapping, perspective, neighborhoods; shapes, patterns, and colors; habitat, New York City | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| For Grades 5-8 | |||
| Echo the Bat | Teacher’s Guide, classroom activities, and a book enable students to learn about remote sensing. They use satellite images to help them find Echo, who has been separated from his mother. | remote sensing, electromagnetic spectrum, light, radiation, color, biodiversity, ecology, habitat, Arizona | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Finding Impact Craters with Landsat | Students learn about the effects of impacts on the land, atmosphere, water, and living things, then determine whether or not a set of satellite images represents actual craters or other landforms. | impact crater, landform | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Spuzzled | Students put pieces of puzzles together to make Landsat satellite images. | game, satellite images, puzzles | N/A |
| Yellowstone Fires (external link) |
Using the problem-based learning approach, students decide whether or not to allow naturally-caused fires in national parks to burn to their natural conclusion. | fire, drought, national park | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Third from the Sun (external link) |
A self-guided introduction to seeing Earth from space helps students to understand that special perspective and its history, and features Landsat in particular. | history, perspective, landforms | N/A |
| For Grades 5-8 and 9-12 | |||
| The GLOBE Program, Land Cover/Biology Chapter | Students follow scientific protocols and instructions to determine land cover type and to make other field-based observations. Chapter provides related classroom activities, teacher support. | land use, land cover change, land cover mapping, tree identification, dominant and co-dominant vegetation | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Landsat
7 Data Subsets for use with MultiSpec™ (free software) |
Full Landsat scenes are very large files. This Web site provides subsetted scenes of interesting cities and natural areas around the world. | multispectral data, MultiSpec™ | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Blight! (Event-based
Science) (external link) |
Students identify the environmental factors that can lead to a serious drought, and write a report on their findings, with a particular focus on agricultural consequences. | causes of drought, agriculture | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Rift
Valley Fever (Exploring the Environment) (external link) |
Using the problem-based learning approach, students determine the nature and transmission of the Rift Valley fever virus and how it is spread DLESE report. | epidemiology, Rift Valley fever virus, Kenya | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Tropical
Poison (Exploring the Environment) (external link) |
Using the problem-based learning approach, students determine whether or not biodiversity is being lost by human activities conducted for economic growth. | rainforest, biodiversity, economic growth, medical research, deforestation | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Mountain
Gorilla (Exploring the Environment) (external link) |
Using the problem-based learning approach, students evaluate the social, economic, and environmental factors affecting the survival of mountain gorillas in Rwanda. | mountain gorilla, wildlife | read DLESE summary (external link) |
| Quantifying
Changes in the Land Over Time (PDF = 1.2 Mb) |
Students analyze land cover change in order to help them grasp the extent, significance, and consequences of land cover change; and to introduce them to the perspective of space-based observations. | land use change, impervious surfaces, urban growth | N/A |
| For Grades 9-12 | |||
| Annotating
Change in Satellite Images (Earth Exploration Toolbook) (external link) |
Students examine a series of Landsat images from 1988, 1992, and 1995 showing an area of rapid urbanization in southeast Asia, then use image processing software to make a map documenting how human activities have changed the coastline over time. | human affects on land cover change, urbanization | N/A |
| For Undergraduates | |||
| Remote Sensing Tutorial | The tutorial defines and explains remote sensing and its applications in depth, and helps the user to develop skills in interpreting images and data sets. | electromagnetic spectrum, spectral signatures, sensor technology, history, applications of remote sensing, color composites, false color | read DLESE summary (external link) |
