Virtual Earthquake is an interactive web-based program designed to introduce the concepts of how an earthquake epicenter is located and how the Richter magnitude of an earthquake is determined. Virtual Earthquake shows the recordings of an earthquake's seismic waves detected by instruments far away from the earthquake. The instrument recording the seismic waves is called a seismograph and the recording ... Full description.

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 ... Full description.

This lithograph introduces the Digital Tectonic Activity Map (DTAM) to the classroom utilizing the map with online activities. The DTAM is a digital atlas of tectonism and volcanism of the last one million years. It is a compilation of field, geophysical, and satellite measurements and is a unique tool for understanding the physiographic nature of the Earth. Full description.

This site provides a non-mathematical introduction to the magnetism of the Earth, the Sun, the planets and their environments, following an historical thread. It is also available in French, Spanish, and German. Full description.

This resource covers basic astronomy, Newtonian mechanics, the Sun and related topics (weather, electromagnetic waves, nuclear energy), and space flight. The material stresses space applications, history, and intuitive content, and includes a brief refresher course on algebra and trigonometry. It is also available in Spanish. Full description.

This non-mathematical, self-contained exposition of studies of the Earth's magnetic environment in space covers such topics as magnetism, electrons, eons and plasmas, the radiation belt, the sun and the solar wind, exploring earthspace, the dynamic magnetosphere, auroras, and interplanetary field lines. Many of the topics introduce the user to the related physics and astronomy, and are thus a useful ... Full description.

This site allows students to explore a hydrothermal vent system on the East Pacific Rise as if they themselves are inside the Alvin submersible. The virtual field trip incorporates a great deal of high quality video from the Alvin and also very realistic 3-D animation to create a convincing model of a vent system. The students can map, sample, and explore the deep ocean environment just as the research ... Full description.

This lesson is designed to help students gain knowledge in accessing current weather data and in using the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS) to specify and download historical satellite data. Students then use the data to examine the relationship between altitude, atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity at a particular location. In this lesson, weather data from ground-based and satellite ... Full description.

Scientists have studied the physical properties of clouds and have developed instruments onboard satellites to characterize the types of clouds they see below. Some satellites have instruments that allow them to measure rainfall as well. For this lesson, students will hypothesize what types of clouds they believe will create the most precipitation (rainfall) over Nashville, TN. Students use the Live ... Full description.

One of the most studied and important ocean currents of the world lies along the eastern coast of the United States and is called the Gulf Stream. It derives its name from its source region of warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. For the past two decades, scientists have been collecting sea surface temperature (SST) data from satellites, buoys and ships in the Gulf Stream and Atlantic Basin. In this ... Full description.