Carbon Through the Seasons (click to access the lesson) - Environmental Protection Agency
Student Objectives:
Students will:
Learn about the carbon cycle
Understand how seasonal variations affect global atmospheric CO2 concentrations
Understand how CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere are changing overall in recent decades
Time: 60–90 minutes
Grade Level(s): 6th +
Vocabulary:
Atmosphere - is an extremely thin sheet of air extending from the surface of the Earth to the edge of space.
Carbon - A chemical element that is essential to all living things. Carbon combines with other elements to form a variety of different compounds. Plants and animals are made up of carbon compounds, and so are certain minerals. Carbon combines with oxygen to make a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2).
Carbon cycle - The movement and exchange of carbon through living organisms, the ocean, the atmosphere, rocks and minerals, and other parts of the Earth. Carbon moves from one place to another through various chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes.
Carbon dioxide CO2 - A colorless, odorless greenhouse gas. It is produced naturally when dead animals or plants decay, and it is used by plants during photosynthesis. People are adding carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, mostly by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. This extra carbon dioxide is the main cause of climate change.
Greenhouse gas: Also sometimes known as “heat-trapping gases,” greenhouse gases are natural or manmade gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases.
Parts per million (ppm): A unit of measurement that can be used to describe the concentration of a particular substance within air, water, soil, or some other medium. For example, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is almost 400 parts per million, which means 1 million liters of air would contain about 400 liters of carbon dioxide.
Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make food and other substances that they use to grow. In the process, plants release oxygen into the air.
National Standards
Content Standard A: Science as inquiry
Content Standard D: Earth and space science
Content Standard E: Science and technology
Description: Students learn about the carbon cycle and understand how concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere vary as the seasons change. Students also learn that even with these seasonal variations, the overall amount of CO2 is increasing in the atmosphere as a result of people’s activities, which are changing the natural carbon cycle.
Adapted From: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/outreach/education.html.
Introduction to Carbon (video above) - http://youtu.be/vrDekmRbBVk
Extension
Three-minute YouTube video about the history of global atmospheric CO2. http://youtu.be/bbgUE04Y-Xg