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Our Eye in the Sky: The TIROS Weather Satellite
Background Information for Teachers

Here are some helpful bits of information in order to be prepared to teach this lesson:

This lesson could be used in the following academic areas: History, English, and/or Science.

The R.A.F.T. writing strategy is used in this lesson. It gives students a new way to approach writing. It allows students to write from another's perspective to a specific audience in a particular format. You can use this strategy in any content area.

R~ Role of the Writer (scientist, satellite, politician, etc.)
A~ Audience (other satellites, the American people, Russia, etc.)
F~ Format (resume, poem, autobiography, letter, etc.)
T~ Topic (American scientific supremacy, the process of inventing, predicting the weather, etc.)

The name of the first successful weather satellite is TIROS, which stands for Television and Infrared Observation Satellite. This satellite was produced by Lavelle Aircraft Corporation in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was launched on April 1, 1960, during the Cold War era.

For more information regarding TIROS and the history of weather satellites, please review the following used in the lesson:

Student Handout 1-Our Eye in the Sky
markerThe First Weather Satellite

Informative websites:
(For a more complete list visit Website Links under Student References and For Further Study.)


Further Reading

Hill, Janice. Weather from Above: America's Meteorological Satellites . Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991.

Lishock, Erika and Matt Bille. The First Space Race: Launching the World's First Satellites. College Station, TX: Texas A and M University Press, 2004.

This book offers a well-researched account of the space race.

Monmonier, Mark. Air Apparent: How Meteorologists Learned to Map, Predict and Dramatize Weather. Chicago, IL: the University of Chicago Press, 1999.

This book shares scientific debates related to storms and global changes. It also explains the process of mapping the upper atmosphere and its usefulness in forecasting disasters.

Stanley Q., Kidder and Thomas H. Vonder Haar. Satellite Meteorology: An Introduction. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1995.

Kidder and Vonder Harr provide material at a college text book level for this subject–satellite meteorology.

Temple, Annette. Using Weather Satellite Images. New Hyde Park. NY: Learning Links, 1990.

A teacher resource on how to use weather satellite images as educational tools.

Williams, Jack. The Weather Book: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to the USA's Weather. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1997.

This is an easy-to-understand guide to the U.S.A."s weather.

Web Sites

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, "NASA," http://www.nasa.gov/

This site provides background information on all of the TIROS weather satellites (past and present) and is a great resource for student research for the Venn Diagram or R.A.F.T. assignment. One nice link located right on the home page is called "Eyes on the Earth." Scroll over various satellites to see what short or long-term meteorological information each satellite provides.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, "NASA Global Hydrology and Climate Center, Weather Satellite Imagery and Educational Information Links," http://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/satlinks.html

This page provides a number of educational website links which will assist your students in comparing satellite images over time.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Monitoring the Climate of 2000-April 22, 2000-Earth Day," http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2000/earth/earthday.html

This page was created on April 22, 2000 to honor the 40th anniversary of weather satellites. A section entitled "Improvements in Satellite Imagery/Analyses" will prove particularly helpful to students during their comparisons of satellite images over time. Two images–one from TIROS and one showing more recent hurricanes Floyd and Andrew–are posted side-by-side. Also of interest on the webpage is an image of the first satellite launch.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "National Environment Satellite, Data, and Information Services - NESDIS_Information and History," http://www.oso.noaa.gov/history/index.htm

This site provides and excellent summary of the history of weather satellites and includes a link to "Early TIROS Images" that are wonderful photographs of its creation and diagrams of its parts.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Home, "A Satellite for all Seasons-TIROS," http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/lae/html/sat_tiros.htm

This page from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum shows a chronological development of satellites and their images beginning with TIROS. A page entitled "Weather or Not" also shows wonderful images of volcanic activities, fires, and dust storms.

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