How Do We Know Earth Is Changing?
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Provided by: LabXchange|Published on: August 10, 2026
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Scientist Reviewed This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This 5-minute video explains how scientists use images captured from the ground and from satellites to track changes to Earth's surface over time.
- Students see before-and-after examples including melting and disappearing glaciers, flooding, volcanic eruptions, and urbanization.
- The video highlights that some changes come from natural events and severe weather while others come from human activity.
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: In Collaboration with NASA
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Classroom Implementation:
- The video works well as a whole-class introduction to how scientists gather evidence of a changing planet.
- Before viewing, ask students to predict what kinds of changes to Earth's surface might be visible from space, then check their predictions against the examples in the video.
- Have students sort the examples shown into changes caused by natural processes versus changes driven by human activity, and discuss which changes happen quickly and which happen slowly.
Extensions:
- As a class, look for before-and-after satellite images of a local region using Google Earth's historical images feature.
- Connect the changing features seen in the video to concepts of climate change (e.g., melting glaciers lead to sea-level rise; droughts and heavy rain are becoming more common).
- Discuss how the changes shown in the video may affect humans and biodiversity in the area.
This resource visually illustrates how scientists know that the Earth is changing. Satellite and other photos clearly show both short and long term changes due to extreme weather, human activity or climate change. Most striking are the photos of receding glaciers, providing clear evidence of global climate change. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
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Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
LabXchange
Harvard University’s LabXchange is a free online platform for science education, created with support from the Amgen Foundation. It makes learning science online flexible and fun, with interactives, lab simulations, and more.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
