Did the image I drew match the image you saw? By simulating a satellite and a ground station, teams of two transmit data in the form of pixels in order to recreate an image. They use four different levels of brightness, creating slightly blurry images. The concepts of number of pixels and brightness levels comprise the basis of questions pupils ponder.

Concepts

pixels, digital photography, satellite images, satellite data

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the activity to promote discussion of data transmission and remote sensing
• The class can research other uses of pixels and how they work to create images both in pictures and on computer monitors

Classroom Considerations

• Images and grids need to be created in advance
• Arrange the Remote and Earth-based team members back-to-back so they cannot see each others' images

Pros

• The lesson provides extension-type games that can be used to further the concept
• The activity simplifies a complex task in order to make it understandable

Cons

• To make the materials, all the images have to be enlarged, not just copied
• The write-up is not directly tied to a learning objective