NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The information in this document was accurate as of the original publication date.

Audience: Educators
Grades: 6-12


Earth's heat engine does more than simply move heat from one part of the surface to another; it also moves heat from Earth's surface and lower atmosphere back to space. This flow of incoming and outgoing energy is Earth's energy budget.

The front of the Earth's Energy Budget poster depicts incoming, reflected, absorbed and emitted solar radiation. The back of the poster is divided into eight parts with background information, a lesson plan, a vocabulary matching activity and career information.

Individual sections of Earth's Energy Budget Poster:
     Earth's Energy Budget poster front [4MB PDF file]
     Earth's Energy Budget: Balancing the Energy Budget [1MB PDF file]
     Earth's Energy Budget: The Story of Energy in the Earth System [361KB PDF file]
     Earth's Energy Budget: Standards [627KB PDF file]
     Earth's Energy Budget: Changes Since 1950 [237KB PDF file]
     Earth's Energy Budget: Seasonal Cycles in Net Radiative Flux lesson plan [86KB PDF file]
     Earth's Energy Budget: Word Match [138KB PDF file]
     Earth's Energy Budget: Crossword Puzzle [160KB PDF file]
     Earth's Energy Budget: Energy Budget Detectives [505KB PDF file]