NASA eClips Real World:  Food Security -- Monitoring Crops from SpaceVideo Description:  Discover how NASA's Earth-observing satellites gather data to monitor food growth. Dr. Inbal Becker-Reshef describes how mathematics is used to interpret satellite data and describe vegetation and crop yield. Dr. Hannah Kerner shares how algorithms and models use NASA data to describe and predict food supply and food shortages. This work through NASA Harvest provides tools for farmers and governments to describe and predict food security worldwide. Video Length:  5:25.NASA eClipsTM is a suite of online student-centered, standards-based resources that support instruction by increasing STEM literacy in formal and nonformal settings.  These free digital and downloadable resources inform and engage students through NASA-inspired, real-world connections.NASA eClips Real World segments (grades 6-8) connect classroom mathematics to 21st Century careers and innovations.  They are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem solving.

Measure relative humidity in the air using a simple device made of a temperature sensor, a plastic bottle, and some clay. Electronically plot the data you collect on graphs to analyze and learn from it. Experiment with different materials and different room temperatures in order to explore what affects humidity.

Watch a reaction proceed over time. How does total energy affect a reaction rate? Vary temperature, barrier height, and potential energies. Record concentrations and time in order to extract rate coefficients. Do temperature dependent studies to extract Arrhenius parameters. This simulation is best used with teacher guidance because it presents an analogy of chemical reactions.

Investigate what makes something soluble by exploring the effects of intermolecular attractions and what properties are necessary in a solution to overcome them. Interactive models simulate the process of dissolution, allowing you to experiment with how external factors, such as heat, can affect a substance's solubility.

This resource uses text, images, maps and a laboratory exercise to explain how differences in the temperature and salinity of ocean water cause the formation of deep-ocean currents. It is part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's "Ocean Surface Topography from Space" website. This material is also available on the "Visit to An Ocean Planet" CD-ROM.

Reading temperatures -- Mathematics Instructional Plans (MIPs) help teachers align instruction with the Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) by providing examples of how the knowledge, skills and processes found in the SOL and curriculum framework can be presented to students in the classroom.

In this activity, students create a model ocean over which "wind" will be blown, and observe the relationship between the wind and the resulting ocean surface currents. The activity reinforces the concept that surface currents in the ocean are mostly caused by wind. A materials list and instructions are provided, and links to a glossary are embedded in the text.