February 2016: NASA's Earth Observatory

This month’s website of the month is NASA’s Earth Observatory, where, as they state, “every day is Earth Day”. The website’s stated mission is “to share with the public the images, stories, and discoveries about the environment, Earth systems, and climate that emerge from NASA research, including its satellite missions, in-the-field research, and models”. There is a lot of information offered on the website, from Global Maps, which show month-to-month changes in Earth’s climate systems, to Features, which offer special projects that explore a topic in more depth. I think the most easily accessible offering for students is the Image of the Day. Each day, the home page of the website features a different image with an accompanying description. This month’s images have ranged from a satellite photo of a cyclone heading towards the South Pacific nation of Fiji to a photograph of London at night, taken from the International Space Station - really cool to look at and interesting to read about and discuss with students. Rosanne