What Happened to the Ozone?

In this lesson, students use a Web-based customized version of ImageJ to examine images of atmospheric ozone levels over the South Pole to determine the months of lowest ozone levels and changes in ozone levels since 1979. Some of the causes for the decline in ozone are introduced.

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Relevant standard(s)

NSES Standard: Science as Inquiry, Grades 5-8, Content Standard A
• USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO GATHER, ANALYZE, AND INTERPRET DATA: The use of tools and techniques, including mathematics, will be guided by the question asked and the investigations students design. The use of computers for the collection, summary, and display of evidence is part of this standard. Students should be able to access, gather, store, retrieve, and organize data, using hardware and software designed for these purposes.

NSES Standard: Earth and Space Science, Grades 5-8, Content Standard D
• Global climate is determined by energy transfer from the sun at and near the earth's surface. This energy transfer is influenced by dynamic processes such as cloud cover and the earth's rotation, and static conditions such as the position of mountain ranges and oceans.
• Global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather. Oceans have a major effect on climate, because water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat.
• The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations.

NSES Standard: Science and Technology in Society, Grades 5-8, Content Standard E
• Science and technology are reciprocal. Science helps drive technology, as it addresses questions that demand more sophisticated instruments and provides principles for better instrumentation and technique. Technology is essential to science, because it provides instruments and techniques that enable observations of objects and phenomena that are otherwise unobservable due to factors such as quantity, distance, location, size, and speed. Technology also provides tools for investigations, inquiry, and analysis.

NSES Standard: Science in Personal and Social Perspective, Grades 5-8, Content Standard F
• Societal challenges often inspire questions for scientific research, and social priorities often influence research priorities through the availability of funding for research.

NCTM Standard: Measurement, Grades 6-8
Instructional programs should enable students to understand measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement:
• understand, select, and use units of appropriate size and type to measure angles, perimeter, area, surface area, and volume.
• select and apply techniques and tools to accurately find length, area,
volume, and angle measures to appropriate levels of precision.

NETS Standard: Grades 6-8
• Use content-specific tools, software, and simulations (e.g., environmental probes, graphing calculators, exploratory environments, Web tools) to support learning and research.