AETHERION LEARN
Earth from Space · Lesson 98 · Teacher license

Watching Weather from Orbit

Students learn how uneven heating by the Sun drives weather, how TIROS 1 took the first weather satellite pictures in 1960, how geostationary and polar orbiting weather satellites work together, and how satellite data feed computer forecasts and hurricane warnings.

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 Sun, then visit Earth six times with different views (TIROS 1, geostationary satellites, polar orbiting satellites, infrared and water vapor images, hurricanes, and turning data into forecasts) plus the International Space Station. Aetherion pauses at the Sun (uneven heating), the hurricane stop at Earth (how better forecasts change decisions) and the ISS (why the view from orbit affects people).

Learning objectives

NGSS connections

MS-ESS2-6Uneven heating by the Sun and Earth's rotation drive the atmospheric circulation that satellites observe.
MS-ESS2-5Students use satellite data to see how moving air masses produce changes in weather.
MS-ESS3-2Satellite observations help forecast hurricanes and other hazards so communities can prepare.

Stops on this journey

  1. The Engine of Weather (discussion stop)
  2. The First Weather Satellite
  3. Satellites That Never Look Away
  4. Satellites That Circle the Poles
  5. Seeing in the Dark
  6. Hurricanes from Above (discussion stop)
  7. An Astronaut's View (discussion stop)
  8. From Pictures to Forecasts

Vocabulary