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When asked to picture the shape of raindrops, many of us will imagine water looking like tears that fall from our eyes, or the stretched out drip from a leaky faucet. This popular misconception is often reinforced in weather imagery associated with predictions and forecasts. Raindrops are actually shaped like the top of a hamburger bun, round on the top and flat on the bottom. This new video from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission explains why.

In this engineering design challenge, students build a tower to resist a simulated hurricane.

This activity was developed as an introductory experience to a series of lessons about water resources on Earth. Students will investigate Earth systems by making observations in nature and identifying systems in the natural world. Ultimately, the students will understand how the four spheres/systems on Earth (biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere) are interconnected.

This activity was developed to give participants an understanding of Earth’s water – how much exists, what it’s like and where it is found. In this one-hour-long activity, students participate in a demonstration showing the distribution and composition of water on Earth. Students also create a map showing where freshwater is located on Earth (in streams, ice packs, wetlands, etc.).

Educational handout in the shape of a raindrop. The front shows a diagram of the water cycle, and the back has information about GPM and facts about water.

This 17 page flyer provides an overview of the GPM Mission. It describes the technologies used to measure precipitation and the missions scientific goals and societal applications.

Build a paper model of the GPM Core Observatory and learn about the technology the satellite will use to measure precipitation from space.

This is an inquiry-based, hands-on activity that has been created to engage students in designing and testing a rain gauge. Throughout this one-hour lesson, students are given an engineering problem (measuring precipitation), easily obtainable materials and tools, and time to design and test their rain gauges. Students will simulate rain to test the gauge and compare their results. The comparison of results leads to a discussion about the need for a standardized calibration system to be used to

This activity was developed to teach students about the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission. In this one-hour long activity, students will watch a short video summarizing the purpose of the mission, learn about the parts of the satellite and their functions, and build an edible model of the satellite.

This activity was developed to give participants an understanding of Earth’s water cycle. In this one-hour long activity, students participate in a webquest to learn about the water cycle, and then build a mini-model of the water cycle to observe how water moves through Earth’s four systems.

This is an activity that was developed to give participants an understanding of the biosphere. In this one-hour long activity, participants learn about the biosphere by making observations and taking measurements. They will go outside and use a dichotomous key to investigate plants and land cover as an indication of amount of water in the biosphere. Students will use this qualitative data to understand how water is found in many places in the natural environment and how these places are connect

This is an activity that was developed to give participants an understanding of the geosphere. In this one-hour long activity, participants learn about the geosphere by making observations and taking measurements. They will go outside and use scientific equipment to investigate water in the soil by measuring soil moisture, temperature, color and consistence. Students will use this qualitative and quantitative data to understand how water is found in many places in the natural environment and ho

This is an activity that was developed to give participants an understanding of the hydrosphere. In this one-hour long activity, participants learn about the hydrosphere by making observations and taking measurements. They will go outside and use scientific equipment to investigate temperature, pH and transparency of a body of water. They will use this qualitative and quantitative data to understand why it is important to know about the condition of freshwater sources in many places in the natur