Earth Day at Home Webquest

This Earth Day, go on a webquest to see how NASA helps study and protect the land, air, water, and ice. Click and explore the eleven topics below that demonstrate how NASA studies our planet's interconnected systems to better our world. Then see how much you’ve learned by taking the interactive quiz. You may want to open the quiz in a separate tab or browser window so you can answer questions as you explore the topics. Good luck!

1. A World of Data From Space

Earth-observing satellite fleet as of January 2023

NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

NASA’s earliest fleet of Earth-observing satellites studied clouds and weather. Now we can measure wind speed, track fires, estimate tree height and much more using satellite data. Use Earth Now to explore NASA's satellites and the data they collect. › Explore

2. NASA In Your Life

Screenshot of a NASA interactive about how space exploration affects your daily life

Have you ever wondered why space exploration should matter to you? Or how the work of NASA scientists and engineers affects your daily life? “Spinoffs” are commercial products and services derived from NASA technology. › Explore

3. Finding Adelie Penguin Populations

An adelie penguin looking down the egg it's protecting

Heather Lynch/Stony Brook University

Did you know that satellite data can help scientists find penguin populations? › Explore

4. Bright Nights and City Lights

Did you know we can learn about Earth by observing it at night from space? A sensor aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite allows scientists to study Earth's atmosphere and surface during nighttime hours. › Explore

5. NASA Aeronautics Works to Lower Emissions

Design concept of ECO-150R electric airplane

The ECO-150 turboelectric design concept

NASA / Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc.

NASA is exploring technologies so aircraft can use electricity instead of jet fuel to power flight. See how much we are trying to reduce emissions with new electric aircraft. › Explore

6. Seeing Wildfires From Space

_{Kari Greer/USFS Gila National Forest}

Explore how NASA uses satellites to detect wildfires around the world. › Explore

7. Astronauts Drink What?

NASA astronaut and Expedition 62 Flight Engineer Jessica Meir observes a floating sphere of water formed by microgravity inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module.

NASA

As Earth Day celebrates its 50th anniversary, the International Space Station, or ISS, celebrates its 20th year of continuous human presence in space. That's a lot of water needed to sustain astronauts. Did you know that water from unusual sources is filtered and reused on the ISS? › Explore

8. Arctic Sea Ice

Manuel Ernst/UFA

The Arctic sea ice cap is an expanse of frozen seawater floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas. Every year, it expands and thickens during the fall and winter and grows smaller and thinner during the spring and summer. › Explore

9. Supersonic Flight

Illustration of the completed X-59 QueSST landing on a runway

Lockheed Martin

NASA is building an experimental aircraft called the X-59 for quiet supersonic flight over land. › Explore

10. Scale in the Sky

Artist's illustration of the NASA/German GRACE-FO mission, which tracks changes in the distribution of Earth's mass, providing insights into climate, Earth system processes, and the impacts of some human activities.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Did you know we can improve drought, flood and wildfire forecasts by monitoring changes in Earth's gravity from space? › Explore