Program Objectives:  With our teaching staff, students will:

• Discover what carbon dioxide is, where it comes from, and how it affects climate.
• Experiment with mirrors, lights, and Styrofoam balls to simulate the greenhouse effect.
• Compare graphs of temperature and CO₂ levels in recent history and in geologic history.
• Examine household objects to learn how those items relate to climate change and determine what they can do to reduce their impact on global climate.

Suggested Classroom Activities:

1) Ask your students to determine their "carbonfootprint" through the use  of the Zerofootprint Kid's calculator. The purpose of this calculator is to show that everyone's decisions and patterns of behavior add up to a "footprint," which is just a way of measuring people's demands on nature. The more people consume, the bigger their footprint is and the more demand there is on nature. This kid-friendly calculator educates children about how their behaviors and activities influence the production of CO₂ waste. Ask  each of your students to complete the carbonfootprint activity at http://www.meetthegreens.org/features/carbon-calculator.html. After they complete the 29 questions, the website will calculate:

a.       the number of earths it would take to supporttheir lifestyle

b.      the number of trees, land, and water theyconsume in one year with their lifestyle and

c.       the amount of CO₂ is produced fromtheir lifestyle.

3) Modeling the Greenhouse Effect Activity Write-Up (Students will be completing this activity during their lesson at The Health Adventure):

1)      Introduction

Create two artificial "atmospheres" inside plastic bags, using Alka-Seltzer to increasethe concentration of carbon dioxide in the experimental setup.  Measure the starting temperature inside eachplastic bag, then leave them in the sun for at least an hour before measuringthe temperature again. The bag with a higher concentration of carbon dioxideshould be hotter, demonstrating the connection between atmospheric CO₂  concentration and global warming.

2)    Materials

2 Gallon-Sized Ziploc Bags

3 Thermometers

2 Plastic Cups of Water

2 Alka-Seltzer Tablets

Sunny Day

3)     Procedure

This experiment explores the Greenhouse Effect-the way the earth's atmosphere traps heat being radiated by the earth, thereby increasing the earth's temperature.  The Earth's average surface temperature is about 20-30°C warmer than it would be without the greenhouse effect.  Certaingasses in the atmosphere-called greenhouse gasses-are responsible for trapping the heat and warming the earth.  Carbon dioxide is an important example of a greenhouse gas, but there are many others. This experiment illustrates the role of carbon dioxide in trapping heat.  Make sure that students know about the atmosphere, gasses (specifically carbon dioxide), and Greenhouse Effect before starting this experiment. 

 

1)      Label one Ziploc bag as "Experimental" and one as "Control."

 

2)      Pour the same amount of water into both plastic cups.  Carefully set one cup in each bag, making sure that the water doesn't spill.

 

3)      Read each thermometer and record the initial temperatures in the chart below.  (The thermometers should read about the same temperature. If they are off by a lot, find new thermometers.)  Place one thermometer in each bag, but not inthe water and not touching the sides of the bags.

 

 

4)      Place both bags in a sunny place outside. Place the third thermometer on the ground next to the bags. Make sure that they are all on the same surface (don't put one on grass and one on concrete, for example), and all in full sun. Make sure that they won't be in shadow within the next couple hours.  Don't seal either bag yet.

 

5)      Add one Alka-Seltzer tablet to the cup of water in the bag marked "experimental." Immediately seal up both bags. Try to make sure there is about the same amount of air in each bag. (You may wish to let students put Alka-Seltzer in cups of water on their own before this experiment, so they know what happens.  The Alka-Seltzer reacts with the water and makes bubbles, which are carbon dioxide gas.) 

 

6)     Predict what will happen to the temperature in each bag when they are left in the sun. Also predict what will happen to the thermometer that is not in any bag.

 

7)   Wait at least one hour (2 hours is even better.)

 

8)    Record the final temperature in each bag and of the bag-less thermometer in the chart above. Subtract the initial temperature from the final temperature to find the temperature change for the control and the experimental setups.  What happened? 

4) Discussion Questions

·        In our experiment, what happened?  How much did the temperature rise in the control and the experimental setups? Why did this happen?

·        What are the differences between this experiment and the real greenhouse effect? Are there variables that we could better control to make this experiment even better? What variables are beyond our control?

·        What are the real world equivalents of the Alka-Seltzer tablet?  What human actions and processes add carbon dioxide to the earth's greenhouse? Examples: Fossil fuel combustion from cars, factories, electricity plants, etc.

References:

http://www.npr.org/climate: "Climate Connections" from NPRand National Geographic

http://www.astc.org/iglo/: "International Action on GlobalWarming" from Association of Science and Technology Centers

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/climateconnections: National Geographic featurearticles about Climate Change

http://www.ipcc.ch/: "Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change"

http://unfccc.int/2860.php: "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change"