20-Year Map of Global Rainfall

This visualization from NASA shows global rainfall patterns over a 22-year span. It incorporates data from a combination of remote-sensing and ground-based sources.

Collecting Data Below the Earth's Surface

This video segment adapted from Discovering Women demonstrates how scientists use sound waves to collect data about the structure of Earth's crust.

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Deforestation in Bolivia

This visualization adapted from NASA features two satellite images from 1984 and 2000 that show the dramatic deforestation of the Bolivian rainforest.

The Disappearing Aral Sea

This visualization adapted from NASA features satellite images showing how more than 60 percent of the Aral Sea has disappeared during the last 30 years.

Earth as a System

This visualization adapted from NASA maps progressive global changes onto a rotating globe. Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are shown to be dynamic and interconnected.

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Explore Colonial Boston

Explore the town of Boston and its natural and human-made features in colonial times in this interactive activity produced by WGBH and featuring materials from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library.

Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part I

This image from GRID-Arendal depicts the major circulation pattern of the ocean, illustrating interactions between temperature, salinity, and depth.

Tectonic Plates and Plate Boundaries

This interactive activity adapted from NASA features world maps that identify different sections of the Earth's crust called tectonic plates. The locations of different types of plate boundaries are also identified, including convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.

Visualizing Topography

Explore the topography of a hill, a valley, and a cliff in this interactive activity featuring visualizations of three-dimensional topography in two dimensions. Adapted from Stephen Reynolds' "Visualizing Topography."

WMAP: "Baby Picture" of the Universe

View the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) image from NASA to see the first detailed map of the oldest light in the universe, from 379,000 years after the Big Bang, over 13 billion years ago. A second image offers a visual timeline to put the WMAP image in perspective.