Ground Truth Studies is an interdisciplinary activity-based program that draws on the broad range of sciences that make up the study of global change and the complementary technology of remote sensing. It integrates local environmental issues with global change topics, such as the greenhouse effect, loss of biological diversity, and ozone depletion. This handbook is designed to supplement existing curricula and has been used successfully at all age levels. The Global Change Primer answers many frequently asked questions about a number of major global change topics. The Remote Sensing Primer provides an overview of the theory and application of remote sensing technology and lists a number of references on remote sensing that also include striking images and case studies in the application of remote sensing. This book contains activities designed to explore and develop essential skills and concepts for field observation, measurement, etc.; develop the student's understanding of what we know about Earth systems and how we know it; integrate the skills, concepts, and observations in ways that increase the student's understanding of how local scale environment relates to regional and global scale Earth systems. Appendices include global temperature data set, image applications chart, sources for remote sensing imagery, as well as suggested reading and resources. (JRH)