Week 6
The Carbon Cycle
Last week we saw how the Earth has changed over 4.5 billion years with regard to many factors including, movements of the earth, CO2 levels, temperature, and life. This week we will take a closer look at how carbon is cycled and how life and the movements of the Earth contribute to that cycle.
Day 1
Understand how life, rocks, the atmosphere and oceans interact in the carbon cycle.
Understand how the filling or draining of the atmospheric reservoir of carbon contributes to changes in temperature via the Greenhouse Effect.
Day 2
The PETM is a close historical analog of some of the factors that we see in the climate of today's Earth. Though much of it is still in the process of being understood and there are arguments that it is not similar to the situation today, it is still an important historical case that can help us understand the Earth processes that control climate.
The Younger Dryas shows us how quickly climate can reverse or change if global factors compound.
Day 3
Complete the EdPuzzle in Google Classroom.
Carbon flows between and is stored in the water, land, atmosphere, and life of the planet.
Day 4
Today we will look into the deep history of Earth to continue to create a picture of what the environment looked like and how the Earth and life might have interacted with the climate.
Click on the image for more information about deep time periods.
Go to Google Classroom to find the activity for today. We will explore the Deep History of Earth
Carbon Cycle Study Guide
What processes release carbon from animals back to the atmosphere and ocean?
What processes pull carbon from the ocean and atmosphere into plants.
Know three ways that carbon can flow out of rock and sediment reservoirs.
Know where carbon is held longest in the carbon cycle.
Know the effects of increasing or decreasing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Know the role of phytoplankton in the carbon cycle.
Know what positive and negative feedback cycles do.
Know what the Younger Dryas shows us about greenhouse effect and global circulation.
Know why the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is important to climate change studies.
Review
Quiz