SOS Explorer® Resources

SOS Explorer® (SOSx) and the SOS Explorer® Mobile application are tools that can be used in many ways. In this section we describe some examples of how we have used SOSx and provide lesson examples to help you get started.

• Data visualization allows analysis and understanding of complex data
• Data visualization helps bridge understanding of observations versus computer modeling
• Data visualization lets you see things that would otherwise go unnoticed — trends, behavior patterns, curious relationships
• Big data is an emerging trend in — marketing, sales, business, science, customer relations, technology…

• Data literacy
• Reading colorbars & legends
• Determining trends
• Estimating values
• Increasing scientific literacy
• Comparing data
• Geographic awareness

• Earth systems
• Environmental impacts
• Atmospheric chemistry
• Climate change
• Plate Tectonics
• Weather
• Seasons
• Satellites
• Geography
• Land cover
• Solar System
• Space Weather

Browse our Phenomenon-based Learning Modules (tagged as “Available for: SOSx”) and look through the exciting phenomena that will undoubtedly engage your students. The modules contain descriptions of phenomena like Sailing Stones in Death Valley, CA, guiding questions, related datasets available for SOS Explorer® and Next Generation Science Standards related to the topic.

Guiding questions and supplemental materials (.docx) were co-created by David Sutton, Director of Boulder Center for Interactive Learning at Dawson School and Hilary Peddicord at NOAA SOS Explorer. Use these as a jumping off point for deeper exploration into the topics illustrated by SOSx datasets.

Nearly every student now has access to some type of mobile device. For older students, ask them to download SOS Explorer® on a mobile device, have them take a Tour and answer the questions on the follow-up activities or do a scavenger hunt, go to a particular topic on our NGSS paired Phenomenon Based Learning Modules, and answer the guiding questions or just have them generate their own authentic questions for discussion. Other student-led examples include the Global Climate Change and Carbon Dioxide Lesson, where students are given instructions for loading multiple datasets (e.g. CarbonTracker and Biosphere: Marine Chlorophyll and Land Vegetation) and asked to make correlations between them as well as diagrams and websites regarding climate change and the greenhouse effect.

• SOS Explorer mobile Scavenger Hunt: All topics or Earthquakes
• The Pandemic & Air Quality Tour and worksheet
• Monster Saharan Dust Plume Tour and worksheet
• HRRR-Smoke and 2020 Fire Season Tour and worksheet
• Global Climate Change and Carbon Dioxide Lesson (6-12th) (PDF)
• Global Climate Change and Carbon Dioxide Lesson - Teacher version (with answers) (PDF)

Just as Science On a Sphere® is often used as a docent-led presentation tool, SOS Explorer® can be used in this way. For instance, when introducing or concluding a unit of study or a concept, a dataset can be displayed on a projector screen or a large monitor in front of the class and discussed. Likewise, multiple datasets can be strung together to tell a story or complete a learning goal. Check out SOSx with Beth & Hil for topic ideas, or follow us on social media.

SOSx datasets can be a powerful tool for inquiry. In large part, this is because upon first glance, SOSx datasets can be complicated. This makes them perfect for inquiry learning and initiating deeper scientific and geographic research topics. In addition, each SOSx dataset has a written description and can be good practice in scientific literacy.

Combining inquiry and literacy, here are a few lesson examples in a modified KWL format. KWL is a commonly used graphical organizer using the themes: Know, Want to know, Learned.

Using these examples, a teacher could display the dataset, have students fill out the boxes Know and Want to Know, come up with good questions about what they see, read the dataset description, fill out the box Still Want to Know, and plan a research investigation to answer one of their questions. What the student Learned might be shared, presented or written.

• Atmospheric Chemistry — GEOS 5 Model (6–12^th) (PDF)
• Biosphere: Marine Chlorophyll Concentration and Land Vegetation (6–12^th) (PDF)
• CarbonTracker — 2005–2010 (6–12^th) (PDF)

Whether you’re drumming up excitement at the beginning of a lesson, leading an authentic question generation session to gauge your students background knowledge on a new topic, tying up a unit by summarizing what you’ve learned, or utilizing it as a knowledge assessment visual tool — wouldn’t that be a cool way to take a test? — SOS Explorer can bring REAL data visualization practice to your students.

Using SOS Explorer mobile in the classroom is fun and can be enhanced by displaying it to the front of the classroom for a group observation discussion.

There are a number of different ways to mirror an iPhone or iPad onto a display or projector. AppleTV or an AnyCast device can be used to cast. A lightning dongle can also be used to connect to HDMI and other AV inputs.

There are a number of different ways to mirror a tablet, phone or Chromebook onto a display or projector. Chromecast or an AnyCast device can be used to cast. A USB-C dongle can also be used to connect to HDMI and other AV inputs.

See our SOS Explorer FAQ page.

Browse SOSx with Beth & Hil for topic ideas, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Contact us to educate your staff. Or do it yourself with this easy-to-understand teacher-as-learner slideshow (pdf).