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[[image]]

Florida (image 1 of 3)

image #STS031-151-153
26 April, 1990
Linhof Camera, 90mm lens

Background for the teacher:

The shuttle's window frames this image and adds drama to it.  It shows all of Florida, in an oblique view looking up towards Georgia and the Carolinas.  To the right are the Bahamas.  The darker blue areas are deeper areas of the ocean.  North of Florida you can see patterns of the rivers.

Fair weather clouds cover the Florida Peninsula and the northern Bahamas (the light blue water east of Florida.) A heavy smog pall drifts offshore along the central and northern Atlantic coast.  This view also shows the geographic region between the southern Appalachians (dark region northwest of Florida), and the coastal plain.

Possible starting points for investigations:

• Try to understand this oblique perspective, using with a map of the Southeast US to orient yourself.

• Identify Florida, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas.

• Why is there a contrast between dark and light areas of water?

• Why are there more clouds over the land than over the water?

• Notice how thin the atmosphere is (you can see it on the horizon)? How thin is it?  

Teachers' Guide         Page 9.23