http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/lesson-plans/?page_id=474?&passid=68
Missy Holzer, My NASA Data
Activity takes two 50-minute class periods. Access to a computer lab is necessary.
Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»
See how this Activity
supports the Next Generation Science Standards»Middle School: 1 Performance Expectation, 1 Disciplinary Core Idea, 5 Cross Cutting Concepts, 5 Science and Engineering Practices
High School: 1 Disciplinary Core Idea, 5 Cross Cutting Concepts, 5 Science and Engineering Practices
Topics
Grade Level
Educator notes include suggestions for modifying the activity for grades 6-8.
Regional Focus
Climate Literacy
About Teaching Climate Literacy
4c 
4cOther materials addressing 4c
Other materials addressing 5b
Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines
Other materials addressing:
C) Collecting information.
Other materials addressing:
A) Processes that shape the Earth.
Notes From Our Reviewers
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- Some terminology has changed in the My NASA Data Live Access Server web interface, but it should be easy for educators to adapt their instructions to the student users of this website.
- There are no obvious instructions on how to save the images produced by the Live Access Server: Educators will need to make sure to instruct their students.
- Activity has students getting data by hand, which is a lot of work. Educators could download data ahead of time for students.
- Extensions to this lesson offer additional inquiry activities that address this topic.
- Other El Niño activities that include more recent data can be found at: http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/.
About the Science
- Students analyze data from 1997 and 1998, when there was a strong El Niño event.
- The Live Data Server does contain more recent data that could be used if educators wanted to consider a more recent El Niño event.
- TOPEX-Poseidon has been decommissioned: data on sea level is now collected by Jason 1 and 2.
- Student teams study single variables - sea surface height, sea surface temperature, or wind vectors using NASA data. Each team examines all variables for several dates to identify characteristic features of the static images and the changes in these features over time. Teams then describe the temporal variations they observe, look for relationships among the three variables, and discuss the causes and effects of these relationships.
- Comment from scientist: The connections among wind, sea surface temperature and thermocline etc. are accurate but rushed. Educators should provide more explanation of the connections or the figures. Detailed information can be found on the PMEL webpage http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/nino-home.html.
About the Pedagogy
- Different learning styles are addressed through the team approach. The use of animations in this activity supplies an alternate tool to improve student understanding. Both visual observations and written answers are required to the posed questions.
- This resource engages students in using scientific data.
See other data-rich activities
Next Generation Science Standards See how this Activity supports:
Middle School
Performance Expectations: 1
MS-ESS2-6: Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: 1
MS-ESS2.C2:The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns.
Cross Cutting Concepts: 5
MS-C1.2: Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural and human designed systems
MS-C2.2:Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.
MS-C3.1:Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.
MS-C5.2: Within a natural or designed system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter.
MS-C7.3:Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time.
Science and Engineering Practices: 5
MS-P1.1:Ask questions that arise from careful observation of phenomena, models, or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional information.
MS-P4.2:Use graphical displays (e.g., maps, charts, graphs, and/or tables) of large data sets to identify temporal and spatial relationships.
MS-P6.3:Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
MS-P7.4:Make an oral or written argument that supports or refutes the advertised performance of a device, process, or system based on empirical evidence concerning whether or not the technology meets relevant criteria and constraints.
MS-P8.5:Communicate scientific and/or technical information (e.g. about a proposed object, tool, process, system) in writing and/or through oral presentations.
High School
Disciplinary Core Ideas: 1
HS-ESS2.C1:The abundance of liquid water on Earth’s surface and its unique combination of physical and chemical properties are central to the planet’s dynamics. These properties include water’s exceptional capacity to absorb, store, and release large amounts of energy, transmit sunlight, expand upon freezing, dissolve and transport materials, and lower the viscosities and melting points of rocks.
Cross Cutting Concepts: 5
HS-C1.1:Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide evidence for causality in explanations of phenomena
HS-C2.2:Cause and effect relationships can be suggested and predicted for complex natural and human designed systems by examining what is known about smaller scale mechanisms within the system.
HS-C3.1:The significance of a phenomenon is dependent on the scale, proportion, and quantity at which it occurs.
HS-C5.4: Energy drives the cycling of matter within and between systems.
HS-C7.2:Change and rates of change can be quantified and modeled over very short or very long periods of time. Some system changes are irreversible.
Science and Engineering Practices: 5
HS-P1.1:Ask questions that arise from careful observation of phenomena, or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional information.
HS-P4.1:Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.
HS-P6.3:Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.
HS-P7.5:Make and defend a claim based on evidence about the natural world or the effectiveness of a design solution that reflects scientific knowledge and student-generated evidence.
HS-P8.5:Communicate scientific and/or technical information or ideas (e.g. about phenomena and/or the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (i.e., orally, graphically, textually, mathematically).
