Earth at night: what city lights show about where people live
What it is: a discussion activity for grades 6–8 using NASA's free "Earth at night" satellite images. Students look for patterns, such as lights along coastlines, rivers and highways, and dark areas like deserts and rainforests. Then they think about what the lights do not show, because light depends on electricity and wealth, not only on how many people live in a place.
Time: about 30 minutes. Grade: 6th to 8th grade.
Materials: NASA's Earth at night images (from NASA Earth Observatory or the Black Marble project), shown on a screen or printed, and a world map for comparison.
- Show the whole-Earth night image without a label. Ask: "What are we looking at? What do you notice first?"
- Students list patterns: bright coastlines, a line of light along the Nile River in Egypt, clusters around big cities, dark areas in the Sahara, the Amazon and northern Canada and Russia.
- Compare with a physical world map. Ask: "Why might deserts and rainforests be dark?"
- Raise the problem: some areas with many people look dimmer than expected. Discuss reasons, such as less access to electricity or different kinds of lighting.
- Students write a caption for the image that is accurate: what the light shows, and what it cannot tell us on its own.
Differentiation: students who need support focus on one continent. Students who are ready compare night images of one region from two different years, if NASA provides them. English learners can use the words bright, dim, pattern and population.
Quick check: ask a student to explain why the Nile River shows up as a line of lights.
Save this activity to your library so it is ready when you need it.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 31, 2026
- Type
- Lesson plan
- Grade
- Grades 6–8
- Subject
- Social studies
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.