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European Space Agency (ESA)
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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.
Watching Over the Earth
This resource, from ESA, is intended to familiarise students between the ages of 11 and 14 with the subject of satellite imagery. Satellite images are of increasing importance in a great many domains and are dramatically changing the way the world and physical phenomena are perceived.
Their use and understanding by students is one of the aims of this project. The topics and examples in this pack were chosen to match the content of school curricula in Europe, especially in geography, life and Earth sciences and physics.
The 11 topics combine satellite images, short texts, photographs and illustrations in an effort to provide information of different origins and on different scales. Each worksheet comes with a sheet entitled Information for teachers that further develops the topic in question, providing additional information on each of the satellite images in the worksheet.
The 11 topics are:
1. Earth observation satellites Presents the concept of Earth Observation; helps students to understand distances in space and discuss the variety of uses and data provided by satellites.
2. The Earth viewed from space Locate and identify the planet’s continental masses and ocean basins; discuss the effects of the Earth’s rotation and revolution; apply concepts such as longitude, latitude, radiation etc.
3. Humans on Earth Focuses mainly on population and population density
4. Africa and environmental diversity Locates and identifies the major “natural” environments of the African continent and can be used to understand the factors that affect the location of these major environments.
5. Asia and rice growing Observe and identify the shapes and landscapes inherent to rice-growing.
6. Europe: a developed continent Locate and identify the continent’s major urban centres and economic hubs; analyse urban landscapes; apply concepts such as city, landscape, pollution, etc.
7. Living species and their environments Discover and construct the concepts of ecosystem and food chain; track the evolution of food supply for marine species such as whales; track the path of migratory birds such as Brent geese.
8. Water on Earth Describe the different water reserves on the planet, where they are located and how it is transferred and used.
9. Volcanoes: Mount Etna, a case study Locate and identify the main volcanic phenomena and analyses of the relationships between human societies and volcanism.
10. Flood monitoring Locate and identify certain at-risk regions in Western Europe; distinguish the different natural risks for human societies; evaluate the role humans play in the consequences of natural disasters.
11. Colours in satellite imagery
An introduction to the concept of wavelength, and the electromagnetic spectrum and a discussion of the characteristics of satellite images and the different processing methods used.
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Downloads
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Introduction 472.89 KB
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Earth observation satellites 2.43 MB
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The earth viewed from space 2.2 MB
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Humans on earth 8.69 MB
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Asia and rice growing 1.88 MB
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Water on earth 1.68 MB
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Flood monitoring 1.79 MB
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Colours in satellite imagery 1.58 MB
Show downloads
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Introduction 472.89 KB -
Earth observation satellites 2.43 MB
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The earth viewed from space 2.2 MB
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Humans on earth 8.69 MB
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Asia and rice growing 1.88 MB
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Water on earth 1.68 MB
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Flood monitoring 1.79 MB
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Colours in satellite imagery 1.58 MB
Download all files as a .zip35.63 MB
Information on the permitted use of this resource is covered by the Category Three Content section in STEM Learning’s Terms and conditions.
