Watching Earth Change from Space

Students learn how decades of satellite and astronaut observations, from the 1968 Earthrise photo to the Landsat record since 1972, reveal changes on Earth such as shrinking glaciers and Arctic sea ice, growing cities, the shrinking Aral Sea, volcanic eruptions and wildfires.

Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops8 stops

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What students will see and do

Students start at the Moon for Earthrise, then visit Earth six times (the Landsat record, glaciers and ice sheets, Arctic sea ice, cities at night, the Aral Sea, volcanoes) and finish at the International Space Station. Aetherion pauses at the Moon (why seeing home from afar matters), the cities at night stop at Earth (what planners learn from comparing images) and the ISS (what human observers notice that cameras miss).

Learning objectives

• Explain how repeated satellite images over many years reveal slow changes on Earth's surface.
• Describe observed changes in glaciers, Arctic sea ice, cities and the Aral Sea.
• Identify how satellites help people respond to volcanic eruptions, wildfires and power outages.
• Use before-and-after satellite images to describe a change and suggest a cause.

NGSS connections

Stops on this journey

1. Earthrise (discussion stop)
2. The Landsat Record
3. Shrinking Glaciers
4. Arctic Sea Ice
5. Cities at Night (discussion stop)
6. The Shrinking Aral Sea
7. Volcanoes from Above
8. Wildfires and Astronaut Eyes (discussion stop)

Vocabulary

• satellite imagery
• Landsat
• glacier
• sea ice
• ice sheet
• irrigation
• volcanic ash
• time lapse