Informational Products for Educational Use

NASA and Cooperating Data Centers:

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) program is designed to determine the extent, causes, and regional consequences of global climate change. The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) manages the Earth science data derived from EOS satellite instruments and other NASA data measurement systems. Within the EOSDIS framework, the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) process, archive, and distribute EOS and related data products. The DAACs provide expertise in one or more of the Earth science disciplines that collectively constitute global change science, and they offer a full range of support to meet the needs of the research and educational user communities. Other data centerscooperate with EOS by providing additional data and services.

The EOSDIS DAACs and cooperating data centers offer many products and programs that are valuable teaching and learning resources. Products are available electronically through the Internet and/or on physical media, including CD-ROM, videocassette, and printed materials. Programs include interactive online activities and even classroom participation in mission activities. These hands-on programs are learning and skill-building assets for enriching the educational environment and enhancing student interest in the Earth sciences.

The products and programs listed for each of the data centers are available without charge unless otherwise noted. For information about these and other products and services, contact any of the data centers.

Key

Electronic availability Electronic availability

Classroom participation Interactive online activity, classroom participation

CD-ROM CD-ROM

Videocassette Videocassette

Booklet Booklet or brochure

Poster Poster

Trading cards Trading cards

ASF DAAC

Alaska Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Facility
SAR Products and Polar Processes

CD-ROMGlacier Power: A curriculum supplement module that lays a solid foundation in the exciting subject of glaciers has been developed by the ASF Education Outreach at the Geophysical Institute. A complete teacher's guide includes review questions, vocabulary, activities, projects, and lesson plans. Two slide shows include "Glaciers of Alaska" and "Expedition Up McKinley." The guide, available in Acrobat Reader files, may be printed and placed in a binder. The CD-ROM includes Netscape, an installer, and other necessary software; it may be ordered for a postage and handling fee. Glacier Power is suitable for students in fourth through eighth grade. For additional information, contact Donna Sandberg, ASF Education Outreach Team Leader, at (907) 474-7848, or by e-mail to donna@gi.alaska.edu.

CD-ROMAlaska SAR Facility European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) SAR Image Sampler: This CD-ROM is suitable for junior high and high school use. It has a $10 fee.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
ASF DAAC User Services
Alaska SAR Facility
University of Alaska Fairbanks
P.O. Box 757320
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320
Phone: +1 (907) 474-6166
Fax: +1 (907) 474-2665
E-mail: asf@eos.nasa.gov or uso@eosims.asf.alaska.edu
Web: http://www.asf.alaska.edu

EDC DAAC

Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center
Land Processes

CD-ROM SIR-C Educational CD-ROM (SIR-CED): "Seeing the Earth in a New Way" is an educational CD-ROM that contains worldwide radar images taken during the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) missions flown in 1994 on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Preflight images are also included. SIR-CED contains lesson plans, presentation materials, and a teacher's guide. It can be used as part of Earth science, computing, or geography curriculums for junior high, high school, and university levels. The CD-ROM is formatted for UNIX, Macintosh, and PC platforms. A nominal fee will be charged. An order form is available at http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/landdaac/sir-c/educational.html.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
EDC DAAC User Services
EROS Data Center
47914 252nd Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57198–0001
Phone: +1 (605) 594-6116
Fax: +1 (605) 594-6963
E-mail: edc@eos.nasa.gov
Web: http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/landdaac/

GSFC DAAC

Goddard Space Flight Center
Upper Atmosphere, Atmospheric Dynamics, Global Precipitation, and Global Biosphere

The Goddard DAAC Web education page contains links to educational resources, online materials, and related Earth science education pages. Listed below are some of the products available from the Goddard DAAC. For additional products, visit the Goddard DAAC Web site and select the education icon.

Electronic availability Oceanography from the Space Shuttle: An out-of-print pictorial survey of oceanic phenomena visible to the eye from space. This product is available only from the Goddard  DAAC education Web site and is suitable for high school and college.

Electronic availability Classic Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) Scenes: Ocean color data provide an incomparable view of the changeable patterns of biological activity in the marine realm. The data indicate how and where physical processes interact with the biological communities of the ocean. The images are striking examples of ocean color data obtained by remote sensing from space. An explanation of each concept is included. It is suitable for high school and college and can be accessed from the Web at http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/OCDST/OB_Education.html.

Electronic availability The Global Scanner: Periodic Goddard DAAC newsletter. Each issue focuses on a scientific discipline related to global climate change and contains timely information on the Goddard DAAC. The newsletter is suitable for Earth science teachers and high school and college students, and is available from the Goddard DAAC information Web page.

Electronic availability CD-ROM Geomorphology from Space: An out-of-print, 1986 NASA publication. The core of this book is a gallery of space imagery with 237 plates, each treating some geographic region where a landform theme is exemplified. Commentary, photographs, locator maps, and sometimes a geological map accompany each plate. This product is suitable for Earth science high school and college classes.  It is available from the Goddard DAAC education Web page and on CD-ROM.

CD-ROM The Monsoon and Data Assimilation: An educational CD-ROM produced by the GSFC Data Assimilation Office (DAO). The CD-ROM contains three major elements: (1) an overview of the monsoon using assimilated data as an illustration, (2) data visualization for selected sites for various monsoon-related parameters, and (3) a teacher's guide for hands-on classroom activities. The material is organized into levels of complexity from middle to high school.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
Goddard DAAC User Services
NASA/GSFC, Code 902
Bldg. 32, Room S131D
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Phone: +1 (301) 614-5224
Fax: +1 (301) 614-5268
E-mail: gsfc@eos.nasa.gov or daacuso@daac.gsfc.nasa.gov
Web: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov

JPL DAAC

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Physical Oceanography

Electronic availability CD-ROM Perspectives on an Ocean Planet: A CD-ROM that contains information on altimetry over the oceans and on the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/Poseidon mission. It is suitable for middle school to college and can be browsed and ordered at http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/tecd.html.

CD-ROM Visit to an Ocean Planet: An educational, multimedia CD-ROM that has lessons in climate, oceanography, and life in our oceans. It also contains "self-guided" tours covering topics such as "El Niño" and "Meet the Oceanographers," as well as information on the TOPEX/Poseidon mission and ocean topography. It is suitable for middle school to high school and can be ordered at http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/.

Electronic availability Booklet Education Resources for Oceanography and Earth Sciences: A 40+ page brochure listing Earth science resources by categories such as classroom material, continuing education for teachers, multimedia/CD-ROMs, online resource lists, and others. It is available in hardcopy and on the Web from http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/.

Electronic availability Education Web Pages: The pages contain information for oceanography and Earth science educators, including Education Resources mentioned above. Information is appropriate for elementary grades through college.

Poster Booklet Satellite Physical Oceanographic Sciences Educational Resources Package: A collection of educational materials, including posters and informational fliers. This package is available for educators and homeschoolers.

Poster Electronic availability Rise and Fall of the '97-'98 El Niño Poster: A colorful, folded poster with TOPEX/Poseidon satellite images showing El Niño on the front and information and classroom activities on the back. The poster can be viewed and ordered from http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
JPL PO.DAAC User Services
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
MS Raytheon-299
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109
Phone: +1 (626) 744-5508
Fax: +1 (626) 744-5506
E-mail: jpl@eos.nasa.gov or podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov
Web: http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov
FTP: ftp://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov

LaRC DAAC

NASA Langley Research Center
Radiation Budget, Clouds, Aerosols, and Tropospheric Chemistry

The Langley DAAC educational resource programs are designed to enhance the knowledge, skills, and experience for teachers by highlighting Earth science data into integrated disciplines of science, mathematics, technology, and related subject matter. These educational resources are available at no charge from the Langley DAAC.

Classroom participation  CERES S'COOL Project: A program devised to enable classroom students to assist NASA scientists with ground truthing for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) experiment. The project supports NASA research on Earth's climate and employs science, math, and geography curriculums as students observe, compute, and locate vital information through ground truth observations. This program is suitable for students in grades 4 through 12.

Trading cards Classroom participation Trading Cards: Two sets of interactive cards (radiation budget and atmospheric aerosols) with six cards in each set: introduction, mission, science, instrument, satellite, and data. The cards help students understand how the atmosphere affects Earth's climate. Lesson plans and student activities are included to supplement the contents of the trading cards with multidisciplinary curriculums. Additional sets of trading cards are in the planning stages. The cards are appropriate for grades 5 through 8.

Videocassette Visualization of ERBE Data: An overview of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) with an explanation of how scanner and non-scanner satellite instruments work. It is suitable for students in middle school through college.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
Science, User, and Data Services
NASA Langley Research Center
Mail Stop 157D
2 South Wright Street
Hampton, VA 23681-2199
Phone: +1 (757) 864-8656
Fax: +1 (757) 864-8807
E-mail: larc@eos.nasa.gov or userserv@eosdis.larc.nasa.gov
Web: http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov

NSIDC DAAC

National Snow and Ice Data Center
Snow and Ice, Cryosphere and Climate

Electronic availability Booklet Glaciers: A booklet that answers basic questions such as "How are glaciers formed?" "Why do they move?" "Where are they located on Earth?" and "Why are they important?" It includes some glacier facts, a glacier bibliography, and images from NSIDC's glacier photo collection. Glaciers is available in hardcopy or electronically from the NSIDC Web site; it is suitable as a teacher resource and for students in grades 5 through 12.

Electronic availability Snow on the Web: A Web resource with interesting facts about snow, a glossary of snow terms, and answers to frequently asked questions about snow. Also included are links to other Web resources about lake-effect snow and snow crystal images and information. Several online brochures are available; they are suitable as teacher resources and for students in grades 5 through 12.

  • Have Snow Shovel, Will Travel: A pamphlet that describes the history of snow removal efforts in the United States. It includes information about some memorable snowstorms, snowstorm safety, and the snowiest cities in the country.
  • The Blizzards of 1996: An online explanation of the historic Blizzard of 1996 and information about blizzards in general. It includes many images and answers questions such as "What is a blizzard?" and "What makes blizzards dangerous?"
  • Avalanche Awareness: An online guide to avalanche safety, the "avalanche danger scale," a true account of avalanche survival, and a listing of resources for additional information on avalanches.

Electronic availability Ice Shelves and Icebergs: NSIDC has created a Web site to summarize the monitoring of changes in the extent and stability of ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula, using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data from NOAA's polar-orbiting satellites and NSIDC's polar 1-km AVHRR data set. NSIDC regularly reviews images of ice shelves and coastlines considered to be susceptible to rapid change. A history of ice shelf events is provided starting with January 1995, when a large area of the Northern Larsen ice shelf broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula. Also provided is an AVHRR satellite image archive with images used to monitor recent ice shelf events. This Web site also contains links to the National Ice Center for news about icebergs that have recently calved from Antarctica, and methods for tracking their movement.

CD-ROM Northern Hemisphere EASE-Grid Weekly Snow Cover and Sea Ice Extent: A data set derived from satellite observations and designed to facilitate the study of the Northern Hemisphere's seasonal fluctuations of snow cover and sea ice extent. It includes monthly climatologies describing average extent, probability of occurrence, and variance. This CD-ROM requires familiarity with basic image display. Although not considered an educational product, it has been used in high school and undergraduate studies.

CD-ROM Into the Arctic: A CD-ROM designed to offer instructional materials and activities for teachers. Information and activities are divided into four sections, which range from broad (Climate and Climate Change) to more specific subjects (El Niño and the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2). They provide the reader with a background in Earth science that can then be applied using broadly related case studies. See NSIDC's Web site or contact User Services for availability. Into the Arctic is suitable as a teacher resource and for high school and undergraduate students.

CD-ROM Environmental Working Group Arctic Atlases on CD-ROM: Atlases containing historical and new information, including some previously classified data. Russian and Western perspectives on the Arctic climate system, including a host of atmospheric, oceanographic, and cryospheric data, maps, histories, and climate and weather facts.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
NSIDC DAAC User Services
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Campus Box 449
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0449
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
E-mail: nsidc@eos.nasa.gov or nsidc@kryos.colorado.edu
Web: http://nsidc.org

ORNL DAAC

Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Biogeochemical Dynamics

Electronic availability Educator's Corner: A collection of global, change-related Web links primarily aimed toward kindergarten through 12th grade students and teachers. In addition to data sources and providers, the pages contain links to teaching strategies, student projects, lesson plans, models and visualizations, and helpful glossaries. Educator's Corner was developed by Linda Black, a science educator from West High School, Knoxville, TN. Educator's Corner is available from the ORNL DAAC Web page at http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/educator/eduhome.html.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
ORNL DAAC User Services
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
MS 6407, Bldg. 1507
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6407
Phone: +1 (865) 241-3952
Fax: +1 (865) 574-4665
E-mail: ornl@eos.nasa.gov or ornldaac@ornl.gov
Web: http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov

SEDAC

Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center
Human Interactions in the Environment

Classroom participation  Demographic Data Viewer (DDViewer): An online interactive thematic map server that enables customized displays of 225 socioeconomic variables from the 1990 U.S. census. DDViewer is available at http://plue.sedac.ciesin.org/plue/ddviewer. This program is useful for statistics, geography, geographic information systems, environment, economics, and social studies courses, and is appropriate for ninth-grade students and older.

Classroom participation  Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI): An online query of a relational database of international environmental treaties, treaty status files, and environmental resource indicators (World Resources 1996-97). ENTRI is available at http://sedac.ciesin.org/entri/. It is useful for environment, natural resources, political science, law, and current or world events courses, and is appropriate for ninth-grade students and older.

Classroom participation  Model Visualization and Analysis (MVA): An online interactive service that provides information on Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) of climate change, detailed information about specific IAMs, and on-screen visualization of selected model projections of climate change variables. MVA is available at http://sedac.ciesin.org/mva/. This program is useful for environment, geography, social sciences, and economics courses, and is appropriate for 11th-grade students and older.

Classroom participation  Ultraviolet Interactive Service (UVIS): An online interactive query that provides on-screen visualization of hourly, daily, and monthly averaged ultraviolet radiation dose quantities for U.S. locations at various altitudes and latitudes. UVIS is available at http://sedac.ciesin.org/ozone/. This program is useful for Earth science, environment, and health courses, and is appropriate for 11th-grade students and older.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
CIESIN/SEDAC User Services
Columbia University
P.O. Box 1000
61 Route 9W
Palisades, NY 10964
Phone: +1 (914) 365-8920
Fax: +1 (914) 365-8922
E-mail: sedac@eos.nasa.gov or ciesin.info@ciesin.org
Web: http://sedac.ciesin.org

GHRC

Global Hydrology Resource Center
Global Hydrology

Electronic availability  Educational Resources for Hydrology and Earth Sciences: Web site that contains resources for global change, hydrology, and science education.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
GHRC User Services Office
Global Hydrology and Climate Center
977 Explorer Boulevard
Huntsville, AL 35806
Phone: +1 (256) 922-5932
Fax: +1 (256) 922-5859
E-mail: ghrc@eos.nasa.gov
Web: http://ghrc.msfc.nasa.gov/

NSSDC

National Space Science Data Center
Space Data and Historic NASA Earth Science Mission Data

Electronic availability CD-ROM NSSDC Photo Gallery: Popular images of the Earth and the Moon from NASA missions are available from the NSSDC Photo Gallery both online and on CD-ROM. They can be viewed at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/. The CD-ROM can be ordered at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cd-rom/ at a cost.

Electronic availability Planetary Fact Sheet: Bulk and orbital parameters and atmospheric information of the Earth, Moon, and other planets are available from the Planetary Fact Sheet home page at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
NSSDC Coordinated Request and
User Support Office
NASA/GSFC, Code 633
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Phone: +1 (301) 286-6695
Fax: +1 (301) 286-1635
E-mail: request@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov
Web: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

NOAA Data Centers

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Environmental Data

NOAA is charged with describing, protecting, and predicting changes in the Earth's environment and promoting global environmental stewardship. As part of NOAA, the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) operates the U.S. civilian weather satellite program and maintains and distributes information from the world's largest repository of environmental data. All NESDIS Data Centers are members of the World Data Center System. The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) provides weather and climate records; the Satellite Active Archive (SAA) supplies satellite data and imagery; the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) maintains geophysical information and paleoclimatological data; and the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) provides data from global oceans.

For additional information or assistance, contact:
NOAA National Data Centers
DOC/NOAA/NESDIS
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
Web: http://www.nndc.noaa.gov

Satellite Active Archive
Phone: +1 (828) 271-4850
Fax: +1 (828) 271-4876
E-mail: satorder@ncdc.noaa.gov
Web: http://www.saa.noaa.gov

National Climatic Data Center
Phone: +1 (828) 271-4800
Fax: +1 (828) 271-4876
E-mail: orders@ncdc.noaa.gov
Web: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov

National Geophysical Data Center
Phone: +1 (303) 497-6826
Fax: +1 (303) 497-6513
E-mail: info@ngdc.noaa.gov
Web: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov

National Oceanographic Data Center
Phone: +1 (301) 713-3277
Fax: +1 (301) 713-3302
E-mail: services@nodc.noaa.gov
Web: http://www.nodc.noaa.gov