CO2 and the Carbon Cycle - MindFuel

CO2 and the Carbon Cycle INTRODUCTION Students will examine how the natural carbon cycle is impacted by human activity as well as explore how this activity contributes to carbon levels on Earth and in the atmosphere. They will also explore what actions they can take to limit rising carbon dioxide levels. As a Mathematics extension, students analyze quantitative data of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and write scientific inferences to explain the data. Raw data can be found online and students can graph these values to observe trends over time.

STANDARDS Throughout this lesson, when Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are explicitly incorporated into activities, they will be color coded as appropriate: Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts. Science and Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

Developing and Using Models

MS-ESS2-1

System and System Models

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

MS-ESS3-3

Patterns Cause and Effect

KEYWORDS carbon dioxide, carbon cycle, greenhouse gas, carbon capture, carbon storage, global warming

TIME 2-3 classes

MATERIALS • Digital access to What is Carbon Dioxide? • Student reading Appendix A: What is Carbon Dioxide? • Multiple colors of pen or marker (three colors per student) • For extension activity: digital access to global CO2 trends as found on the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) website, Global Monitoring Division

1 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE AND ENRICH LEARNING Knowledge is accessed and built by: • Watching and listening to videos and presentations • Discussing and interviewing • Reading text, articles, and research papers • Viewing and interpreting images, photos and graphs • Note taking by writing or voice recording (audio workbook) • Mind-mapping • Collecting and tracking real-world data

Knowledge is applied/contextualized, practiced, and understood by: • Sharing personal stories • Game play with flexibility for reinforcing/repeat • Choosing personally relevant research topics or projects • Testing ideas through building, experimenting, and prototyping • Answering formative (check-in) assessment questions • Drawing and creating storyboards and diagrams • Evaluating and incorporating feedback

Knowledge and understanding are demonstrated by: • Thoughtful reflections and accurate answers in writing or otherwise (journal, test etc) • Final product uses choice of multi-media (video, website, poster, podcast) • Creating a product with real-world relevance/applicability • Creating a product for users/audiences beyond the classroom • Final product meeting rubric indicators – with student choice for what should be assessed • Formal oral presentations; participation in campaigns and model displays • Building model representations for visualizing things that are too small to see • Collaborating and providing useful/correct feedback to others


LESSON PLAN 1. Begin the class by asking students where in the world they can find carbon while writing student responses on the board (possible answers: carbon dioxide in the air, exhaled by animals, taken up in photosynthesis, carbon as a molecule found in solids like coal or minerals; etc.). Students will need to recall the components and interactions of the geosphere, hydrosphere, the atmosphere and the biosphere (introduced in 5-ESS2) in order to identify the diverse environments and forms in which carbon exists in our world. Note: Whenever possible, encourage students both to consider the form of carbon (e.g., CO2 versus carbon compounds in the Earth) as well as the location of the carbon. 2. Have students work as either individuals, in partners, or small groups to create a model of the carbon cycle, incorporating the sources of carbon identified in the initial part of the lesson. • Natural sources: Have each student or group use one color of ink in their diagram (e.g., black) to illustrate the natural sources (i.e., non-human introduction) of carbon on Earth. Explain that they need to show the interconnectedness/flow of the various forms of carbon in the Earth (land, water, or atmosphere). • Human sources: When human activity is in the carbon cycle (e.g., smokestack), have students use a second color (e.g., blue) to highlight or color the arrows so that there is a distinction between the natural sources in the carbon cycle versus human sources. An example of a carbon cycle is shown below.


Lesson Plan Continued... 3. Next, have students watch the video What is Carbon Dioxide? and complete the attached student reading Appendix A: What is Carbon Dioxide? 4. Based on the video and reading, students should now return to their carbon cycle diagram with a third color (e.g., red) to capture any additional information they may have missed initially. In doing this, students will be able to see how their understanding is validated, where it needed correction or where information was missing. 5. Have students share their carbon cycle drawings with the rest of the class. Give students the opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions to clarify understanding, and allow time for modifications to student models based on peer feedback. 6. To see how the students’ conceptual models of the carbon cycle are applied in a real-world scenario, students can visit the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) website to explore carbon dioxide data in a variety of ways: • Graph the raw data of atmospheric carbon dioxide level by year, then notice any trends and make inferences about these patterns (Note: it should be explained to students that relationships can be classified as causal or correlational. Patterns between atmospheric carbon dioxide level and global temperature may be correlational, and does not necessarily imply causation. This understanding is a component of critical scientific thought and evaluation). • Work in groups to analyze and make inferences about the graphs presented on the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) website. 7. Spend time free-reading and watching the videos on the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) website to get a deeper understanding of carbon dioxide and changes in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere over time. 8. Facilitate a conversation with students about the significance of these activities and next steps. This can include: • What kind of impact, both positive and negative, does society have on natural cycles? • What could/should individual students do to reduce their negative impact on the carbon cycle? • What could/should society (the nation or the entire world) do to reduce their negative impact on the carbon cycle? • What hypotheses can be made about how human activity may impact the world in 10 years, in 50 years, in 100 years, or even longer? • What questions do students still have about carbon dioxide? If time permits, have students focus on one specific interaction within the carbon cycle where they feel they could make a positive change (i.e., mitigate negative human impact on the Earth). Students could also use one of the above questions as a launching off point for an inquiry-based research project. This personal connection to the scientific content deepens student engagement and enhances understanding.


Appendix A: What is Carbon Dioxide? Carbon dioxide, also known as CO2, is a naturally occurring substance that is made up of two parts: carbon (C) and oxygen (O2). Both humans and animals exhale carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which plants absorb to produce more oxygen for humans and animals to inhale. Carbon dioxide can also come from decomposing bio-matter or industrial exhaust. Regardless of its source, carbon dioxide is considered a greenhouse gas; it helps to control Earth’s temperature by keeping thermal energy from the sun in the atmosphere. This is a good thing, because under normal circumstances this allows life to continue on Earth. The problem arises when human activities and industrial processes release large amounts of carbon dioxide causing higher carbon dioxide levels than what nature intended. Many of the things we do every day produce greenhouse gases and it is important for us to control, manage and reduce the amount we put into the atmosphere. Too much or too little can cause an imbalance in the Earth’s temperature. When companies manufacture some of our day-to-day items, their manufacturing plants release something called exhaust. The waste gas can contain things like polymers, bacteria, sponge materials, liquids, and other waste. Special filters are used to capture the carbon dioxide from the exhaust after it is collected. The filters use a liquid that contains chemical molecules that the carbon dioxide is attracted to. The carbon dioxide is later separated from those molecules. Another way that industries capture carbon dioxide is through a process called gasification. This process takes carbon-based waste materials like poop that we can’t use and turns it into carbon monoxide, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The captured carbon dioxide can be changed into liquid form, which is pumped deep underground into an oil reservoir, mixing with the remaining oil so that it can help it flow to the surface. Once the carbon dioxide is pushed underground it is closed, sealed off and monitored.

• Carbon dioxide (CO2): A colourless, odorless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds as well as by human and animal breathing. • Decomposing bio-matter: Organic compounds that rot. • Exhaust: Waste gases put into the air from an engine, turbine or plant or machine in the course of its operation. • Gasification: A process that converts carbon based organic or fossil fuels (i.e., hydrocarbons) into carbon monoxide, hydrogen and carbon dioxide by causing them to react with a controlled amount of oxygen and steam under high temperatures and pressure. • Greenhouse gas: A gas that absorbs infrared radiation from the sun, some examples of these gases are; carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone. • Molecule: A group of atoms bonded together that represents the smallest unit of a chemical compound.


Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a process that captures carbon dioxide emissions and stores them in an enclosed site like an oil reservoir. Carbon dioxide is a main greenhouse gas, and the idea of CCS is to reduce the amount of CO2 that is emitted into the air, thus reducing pollution. The major use for CCS is in energy production and other industrial processes that release a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. CCS technology has the capability of lowering the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere by up to 90% through a process of capturing the carbon dioxide, transporting it and then storing it. Once carbon dioxide is captured, it is usually shipped by pipelines or ships to reach the final storage destination where the carbon dioxide is then injected into carefully selected geological formations. Often captured carbon is stored underground in depleted oil and gas fields or deep saline aquifer formations. These sites are good storage choices because they have porous rock and are capped with impermeable stone to trap the fluid beneath. Ultimately, carbon dioxide can be used to make synthetic chemicals, polymer products, and much more.
