"The Missing Link"

Assumed background: Before the lesson begins, it is assumed that:

- students have a general understanding of what ozone is
http://www.epa.gov/docs/ozone/science/q_a.html (EPA)
http://www.epa.gov/docs/ozone/science/sc_fact.html (EPA fact sheet)
- students are familiar with why we have satellites in space
http://www.thetech.org/hyper/satellite/ (Excellent site on satellites!)
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/Jtrack/ (Satellite tracking)
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JPass/setupjr.html
(Find out when the next satellite is about to pass over your head)
- students have a background knowledge of how to work with "percents" in math
(ie- they should be able to find out what 2% of 300 is)
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/mathgrepform.html (ask Dr. Math)
- students (or teachers) have a general understanding of how to access a specific webpage

Introduction & Background:

The Ozone Layer- Study of the ozone layer has been an interest of scientists since the 1800s. Since the 1970s, NASA has developed a Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (called TOMS for short) which will calculate the thickness of the ozone layer at any point on the Earth. As of 1998, four TOMS instruments have been launched. In order to test the data quality, the data points collected are compared to a series of ground based ozone measuring instruments and balloons. Occasionally, a piece of data is missing from the information. If that piece of data is required during analysis, the scientist must use every instrument available to try and extrapolate the probable value.
Gathering data in Science- Every Science teacher is familiar with the Scientific Method. It is typical in a lab setting not to collect one data point and accept the results; science is based on the fact that experiments are repeatable. Controls are necessary in order to assure we have collected a legitimate result.
This lesson- The purpose of this lesson is to show students how scientists use the scientific method in taking the ozone data from satellites and verifying it with ground based measurements. This is done by having the students interact with real-time ozone data on the web. There are 4 sections to this activity. Each section in this activity is designed to be independent of the other sections. Therefore, feel free to remove any section as a whole. (Please be aware that Section 4 will need some introductory teaching). Most of the ozone data students are required to use can be accessed within 24 hours of its retrieval from the TOMS satellite or ground measurements, and student retrieval on the web takes seconds.
The lesson options- This activity contains a worksheet that can be printed and copied to students (ACTIVITY SHEET). This activity sheet can be used by a student, or a group of students at a computer, or it can be completed as the teacher accesses the computer information for the class. If desired, a student can complete the activity directly on the computer while copying their answers on to a blank answer sheet (ONLINE WEB SHEET).

Procedure:

Step 1- Please read over the TEACHER COPY and prepare your class for the Preface section. The Preface section is designed to familiarize students with the concept of calibration.
Step 2- Simply print out the ACTIVITY SHEET (or WEB ANSWER SHEET) and hand it out to your class. Make sure your students have the required background before beginning the activity, and you are prepared to teach the Preface section.

Coding:
Maryland Core Learning Goals (Science):
National Standards (Science): A1,3,4,6; G2
National Standards (Geography): 1
National Standards (Mathematics): 1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.4, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.2, 10.8

Investigation Discussion and Questions: Simply refer to and print your TEACHER COPY

Feedback: Please email: Matthew_Binder@mail.hempfield.k12.pa.us

Credits: Developed by Matthew Binder, 8th grade Earth Science- Centerville Middle School - Hempfield School District (Landisville, PA) for the Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch at NASA-GSFC

Advised by Dr. Richard Stolarski, Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch