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1. Shuttle Photography

Astronauts love to look out the windows of the Space Shuttle, and fortunately, they also love to take photographs of what they see. For example, shortly after launch on September 30, 1994, the astronauts were looking out the windows of the Shuttle when they noticed thick, black smoke over the Kamchatka Peninsula in north-east Russia. On the next orbit, they took photographs, and this captured the eruption of Klyuchevskaya volcano on film. 

Over the years, astronauts have taken more than 350,000 high-resolution color photographs. These photos reveal Earth as never seen before, showing deforestation in Brazil, the delta of the Mississippi River, the streets and buildings of Buenos Aires, and much more. This collection had been extended even further by students. Through the NASA EarthKAM program, students have been able to take photographs of Earth from space. Unable to look out the Shuttle's windows, they tracked the Shuttle and instructed a camera mounted in one of the windows when to take photographs. 

Materials
What You Will Need:

• Atlases/maps

• Rulers

• References on the areas shown in the photographs (e.g. travel guides, encyclopedias, and Web sites)

• References about the topic being studied (e.g. clouds or deforestation)

2. Familiarizing Yourself WIth the Lithographs

We recommend that you spend time examining the lithographs-indentifying features, locating them on maps, asking questions, etc.-before you introduce them in your classroom. See Earth Features Seen From Space and the student sheets; they should be helpful to you as well.

3. Introducing the Lithographs to Your Students

Introduce the Photographs:

When presenting the lithographs to your students, explain that they are visible light photographs taken from the Space Shuttle. Emphasize that they were taken by a person-either an astronaut looking out the Shuttle windows or an EarthKAM student tracking the Shuttle in the classroom. (See the lithograph Space Cameras.)

Explore a Photograph:

Have your students examine one of the photographs in detail. This examination involves three stages: Getting Interested, Getting Oriented, and Getting Deeper. The Student Worksheet can help you guide the first two stages. (Do not allow your students to read the back of the lithograph until they have considered the color photograph.) For the third stage, encourage your students to use atlases and other references to extend their exploration of the photograph (See next page.)

2 - Educator's Guide        Exploring Earth From Space