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Visualizing Earth's Radiative Balance: A Classroom 'Jigsaw' Exploration of Poleward Heat Transport

This article explores a classroom activity using the "jigsaw" process to help students understand poleward heat transport. By utilizing Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) data and mapping capabilities, students analyze absorbed solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation along a specific longitude. They then plot the data values at different latitudes to visualize the patterns. The exercise aims to improve understanding of Earth's radiative balance.

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Visualizing Earth's Radiative Balance: A Classroom 'Jigsaw' Exploration of Poleward Heat Transport

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  1. Visualizing Earth’s Radiative Balance:A Classroom “Jigsaw” Exploration of Poleward Heat Transport E. Christa Farmer Hofstra University Geology Department 11 May 2012

  2. The Problem: • During my first couple of years of teaching, I had trouble getting students to understand poleward heat transport • Textbooks only tend to have diagrams like this: Fig. 1.4 Ocean Circulation, The Open University/Pergamon

  3. Inspiration: • At a 2005 NSF-sponsored workshop organized by Heather Macdonald, I learned about this: Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 53, n. 1, January, 2005, p. 65-74

  4. Sawyer et al.’s “jigsaw” process: • Divide students into 4 groups (or multiples of 4 for larger classes) • Give each group a “data map”: • Seismology • Volcanology • Geography • Geochronology • Students answer questions about classifying tectonic plate boundaries, and reformulate their data onto different map • Reorganize groups so that there is one student from each data group in each “plate group” • Have students teach each other about their data • Have students consolidate their classifications into one system involving all data • Compare classification systems: usually the “accepted” system will develop

  5. Image created by Dale Sawyer, Rice University (http://terra.rice.edu/plateboundary/)

  6. One of the “data maps”: Image created by Dale Sawyer, Rice University (http://terra.rice.edu/plateboundary/)

  7. MY idea: • Design a similar “jigsaw” exercise to help students visualize poleward heat transport • Utilize Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) data and mapping capabilities provided by LDEO/IRI dataserver at http://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu • Publish an article about the exercise?? (Hasn’t happened yet!)

  8. The Maps: • Incoming Solar (Shortwave) Radiation • Absorbed Solar (Shortwave) Radiation • Outgoing Terrestrial (Longwave) Radiation (Bradley, 1999)

  9. Let’s try it! (…an abbreviated version) • Look at the absorbed shortwave radiation data along 70°W longitude (this goes through where I am on Long Island) • Using the color scale to identify the data values at each point, write down the values of the data at the following latitudes: 80°N, 60°N, 40°N, 20°N, 0°N (equator)

  10. 70°N Write down values for 80°N, 60°N, 40°N, 20°N, 0°N (equator)

  11. Part 2: • Look at the outgoing longwave radiation data along 70°W longitude • Using the color scale, write down the values of the data at the following latitudes: 80°N, 60°N, 40°N, 20°N, 0°N (equator) • Then, we will map the data!

  12. 70°N Write down values for 80°N, 60°N, 40°N, 20°N, 0°N (equator)

  13. Plot the values Fill in the data

  14. Notes: • You must set up the exercise by making sure students first understand lat/lon, W/m2, how data come from satellites, and how to plot data • Creating multiple graphs for different longitudes will emphasize the globality of the patterns • Graphing can be done on chalkboard in small groups • Analogies using bank accounts seem most accessible • I don’t have any quantitative assessment of the effectiveness, but anecdotally it seems to help!

  15. Thanks! • For the full set of maps and student instructions and instructor notes, please see: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/hurricanes/activities/28219.html • Email me (GEOECF@Hofstra.edu) if you have any questions that I can’t answer now!

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