Carbon:
Is Too Much Of A Good Thing Bad?
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Three 50-minute classes
The element, carbon, first originating in the stars, has become an
integral component to life on Earth. Its cycle, affecting organic
and inorganic elements, allows life on our planet to flourish. As
phytoplankton in the oceans and plants on land combine it with other
elements through photosynthesis, glucose is produced. This fundamental
sugar, first manufactured in plants, is the beginning of a complexity
of food chains on land and in the oceans. Left undisturbed by man,
it completes a balanced cycle through the atmosphere, biosphere,
hydrosphere, and geosphere. However, since the industrial revolution,
man and his machines have exploited carbon to the detriment of its
natural cycle. In recent years, the level of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere has risen to alarming levels seriously altering the containment
of heat in the atmosphere and the natural processes of organisms
on Earth.
Through the activities in this lesson, students will become familiar
with the carbon cycle, the greenhouse effect, and the various ways governments
and their people are striving to minimize the negative affects of too
much carbon.
Science
Students will be able to:
• Identify
the sources of carbon compounds.
• Differentiate
between fast track carbon recycling and slow track carbon recycling.
• Explain how photosynthesis affects the food chain.
• Describe
the impact of global warming.
• Investigate
the various ways that people can help to balance the carbon cycle.
National Science Education Standard
http://bob.nap.edu/html/nses/
Content Standard C:
Populations and ecosystems
Louisiana Science
Frameworks:
http:www.doe.state.la.us/doe/assessment/standards/SCIENCE.pdf
SE-M-A4: understanding that human actions
can create risks and consequences in the environment.
SE-M-A7: demonstrate knowledge of the natural cycles, such
as the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, water cycle, and oxygen
cycle.
SE-M-A8: investigating and analyzing how technology affects
the physical, chemical, and biological factors in an ecosystem.
Video:
Enviro-Tacklebox™, Carbon: Element of Surprise
This film introduces students to the importance of the carbon cycle on
our planet. It displays the benefits to organic organisms and problems
caused by the usage of fossil fuels.
Web sites:
Enviro-Tacklebox™ http://www.lpb.org/education/classroom/itv/envirotacklebox/ This
is Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s Web site providing teaching information,
films, articles and student activities involving environmental science.
Find Article. http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/PI/index.jhtml This is an exciting research Web site that leads to endless articles
in every area. Use the search option to direct the research to
specific points of interest.
National Geographic Magazine http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0101/index.html As always, National
Geographic Magazine is a great companion
for teaching. This Web site offers an interactive article on
the Great Barrier Reef.
Alien Explorer http://www.alienexplorer.com/hp.html This is
a student friendly Web site that explores a variety of topics
about animals and ecosystems. There are also various art activities
and clip art available. For the scientific processes, go to the
Aliens Explore Earth option.
The Convention and Kyoto Protocol http://unfccc.int/resource/convkp.html This Web site provides the documentation of the Kyoto Protocol,
which is the united effort of nations around the world to reduce
access carbon production.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
http://www.ciesin.org/TG/PI/POLICY/montpro.html This
Web site provides the documentation on the Montreal Protocol,
the first
international effort to control damaging emissions in the Earth’s
atmosphere.
Per Student:
• Pencil
and paper
• Questions for film
Per Group:
• Piece of wood, plastic, water, fabric, and carbonated beverage
• Two cups
• Worksheet – Where’s
the Carbon? (attached)
• Group assignments with Web sites
1. Prior to teaching this lesson, bookmark the web site used in
the lesson on each computer in your classroom. Load a media player if
the computer does not have one. (available free at http://www.macromedia.com)
2. View the video becoming familiar with the segments to be used in class.
Prepare the hands-on element of the lesson by:
1. Copying the set of film questions, vocabulary, and quiz for
each student.
2. Copy the Where’s the Carbon? Worksheets and group
activity sheets for each group.
3. Place materials and the Where’s the Carbon? Worksheet
in each group.
4. Have a carbonated beverage and non-carbonated beverage available
for the introductory activity.
When using media, provide students with a FOCUS
FOR MEDIA INTERACTION,
a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during
or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia
elements.
1. Address the class with bottles of carbonated and non-carbonated
beverages in your hands. Ask two students to volunteer. Hand
one student a carbonated drink and the other a non-carbonated
drink. Tell each student to shake the bottle a few times. Take
the non-carbonated bottle from the student and open the cap.
Ask the students what has happened. Then take the carbonated
drink from the other student and start to open the cap. (Don’t
open the cap.) As the students react, ask them why the cap
should not be opened. Answer: The drink will spew all over
the room.
(Guide the students to realize that the element, carbon, has been added to the
carbonated drink. When shaken, the carbon causes an expansion process that increases
the pressure inside the bottle, causing it to spew.)
2. Instruct the students to examine the materials that have
been placed in their groups. Read the instructions on the worksheet
explaining that they must have an explanation for why or why
not certain items contain carbon. Get them started by referring
to the carbonated drink in the cup. (Yes, it does contain carbon.
We know this because of the manner in which it reacts when the
drink is opened. The bubble and fizz are indications that the
drink is carbonated. Guide the students to realize that carbon
can appear in other things without bubbling and fizzing. They
are to use their prior knowledge of the molecule, carbon dioxide,
to hypothesize as to whether the other items contain carbon.)
Tell the students to continue the examination of the other items
and determine their hypotheses and explanations.
3. Have the students debate for several minutes using their
explanations for each item. (Guide them to understand that every
item on their table contains carbon. Wood contains carbon because
it was once a living plant and used carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.
Plastic contains carbon because it is processed from the hydrocarbon,
oil. Oil is the product of decayed living organisms over thousands
and millions of years. Water in the oceans absorb carbon dioxide,
which the plants use for photosynthesis beneath the waves. The
fabric contains carbon whether it is cotton, polyester, or wool.
If it is polyester, it is derived from petroleum. If it is cotton
or wool, it is derived from a living organism and all living
organisms contain and use carbon for survival.)
4. Ask the students to name more things in the world around
them that could contain carbon.
1. Ask your students if they know how the carbon cycle
operates. (Most students will discuss the process of photosynthesis.)
2. Tell the students that the carbon cycle is far more extensive
than just photosynthesis. Pass out the questions for the film.
Direct the students to note as many answers as possible.
3. Insert Carbon: Element of
Surprise into your VCR. Provide
your students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, asking them
to look for the answers to the following questions:
a. Where is carbon found?
b. For what purpose do plants use carbon dioxide?
c. What percent of all living organisms’ dry weight
is made up of carbon?
d. Living things are carbon consumers and_______________.
e. How is carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere?
Start the tape at the beginning and stop it at the three pictures
of animals that are titled, Carbon Recyclers. This segment is
approximately three minutes. Discuss the answers to the questions
with the students.
(Carbon is found everywhere on Earth. Plants use carbon dioxide
for photosynthesis. Carbon makes up about fifty percent of the
dry weight of all living organisms. Living things are carbon
consumers and producers. Carbon dioxide is released into the
atmosphere through respiration and decay.)
4. Provide your students with a FOCUS
FOR MEDIA INTERACTION,
asking them to look for the answers to the following questions:
a. What produces the most oxygen on Earth?
b. What is carbon dioxide?
c. How is carbon dioxide broken down in a leaf?
d. What is fast track carbon recycling?
Start the tape at the stopping point and stop it after the explanation
of the carbon cycle showing the picture of the man fishing and
the cow. This segment is approximately three minutes. Discuss
the answers to the questions with the students.
(Plankton, found in the oceans, is the largest producer of oxygen
on Earth. Carbon dioxide is a gas composed of one atom of carbon
and two atoms of oxygen. Light energy breaks down the carbon
dioxide in the leaf allowing oxygen to leave as a by-product
and the carbon to begin the process of photosynthesis. Fast track
carbon recycling is the process that begins with photosynthesis
in plants and phytoplankton carrying on through the animals and
ends with the decomposition of animals and wastes.)
5. Provide your students with a FOCUS
FOR MEDIA INTERACTION,
asking them to look for the answers to the following questions:
a. What is slow track carbon recycling?
b. How does carbon return to the atmosphere?
c. What is a carbon sink?
d. How is the ocean a recycler?
e. What are organic recyclers and what are inorganic recyclers?
Start the tape at the stopping point and stop it at the pictures
of the diamonds. This segment is approximately four minutes.
Discuss the answers to the questions with the students.
(Slow track carbon recycling involves carbon trapped in the Earth’s
crust for thousands and sometimes millions of years. Carbon is
returned to the atmosphere by man through mining and drilling
for oil and gas. A carbon sink is an area that absorbs carbon
in water or on land and does not recycle. The ocean is a recycler
when the carbon dioxide is absorbed into the water and ocean
plants use it for photosynthesis. This is the beginning of the
ocean food chain. Atmosphere and oceans represent the inorganic
storing of carbon and plants and animals represent the organic
storing of carbon.)
6. Provide a FOCUS FOR MEDIA
INTERACTION,
telling the students to look for the answers for the following
questions:
a. What are hydrocarbon compounds?
b. Why is carbon dioxide called a greenhouse gas?
c. What are the sources of excess carbon dioxide?
d. What is the international community doing about it?
e. What are the four different spheres?
Start the tape at the stopping point and stop it at the picture
of white coral. Discuss the answers to the questions with your
students as a review.
(Hydrocarbon compounds are molecules made of hydrogen and carbon
atoms. General examples are oil and gas. From oil and gas, we
derive plastics. Carbon dioxide absorbs heat from the sun and
warms the Earth: the more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the
warmer the temperature. Because of this warming effect, it is
called a greenhouse gas. The sources of excess carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere are caused by automobile and industrial plant
emissions, and the world-wide burning of coal. The international
community has taken measures in the past few years. They have
convened and tried to make arrangements to reduce carbon emissions.
The four different spheres of carbon are the atmosphere, biosphere,
geosphere, and hydrosphere.)
7. Provide a FOCUS
FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, telling the studentsTo
look for the answers for the following questions:
a. What elements other than oxygen does carbon bond with?
b. What is the food chain in the ocean?
c. What can we do about the over abundance of carbon in our spheres?
Start the tape at the stopping point and stop it at the end.
Discuss the answers to the questions with the students.
(Carbon bonds with calcium, hydrogen, and interacts with limestone.
The food chain in the ocean begins with the plants that are food
for krill. The krill are eaten by fish; and the fish are eaten
by penguins and seals. The way we can help reduce an excess of
carbon in our spheres is to conserve energy, manage forests well,
and find alternative energy sources.)
1. In order to fully understand the impact of increased
carbon dioxide in our environment, the students will more fully
research photosynthesis, the causes of global warming, coral
reefs, the growth effects of carbon dioxide on plants, techniques
in planting and farming to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
and international efforts to reduce global warming.
The attached group assignments are designed to adapt to various learning styles.
Groups one, four, and five are assignments geared to regular academic achievers.
Group three is geared toward high academic achievers. Group two is designed for
more kinesthetic and tactile learners. Group six allows for students that process
at a slower pace. Divide your class into the six groups. Pass out the attached
group assignments. This is a good activity for the computer lab. The students
will go to the assigned Web sites and print the necessary information. If the
students do the research in a one or two computer classroom, direct the groups
to define the vocabulary words while waiting for their computer time.
2. The students will work in groups to complete their presentations.
Posters should include pictures, diagrams, and summaries of the
information as they apply to the topic.
3. The students will take turns presenting the assignments to
the class. Direct the students to the information on which they
will be assessed.
4. Assessment of this lesson can be based on the attached quiz
and group assignments.
LANGUAGE
ARTS:
• Write a story with the element carbon going through the carbon cycle.
The students may choose fast track carbon recycling or slow track carbon
recycling. The story must include scientific facts about the carbon cycle.
MATHEMATICS:
• Have students discuss the ratios of carbon to hydrogen found in glucose.
TECHNOLOGY:
• Research
articles through Science News to find more extensive information on
carbon’s impact in the world.
VISUAL ART:
• Create a collage of the pictures depicting the greenhouse effects on
the biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere.
• Plan
a field trip to an anaerobic wastewater management site. Find out the
benefits of this system as opposed to the traditional methods of handling
a community’s waste.
• Invite an environmental scientist visit the class and explain efforts
that are being made in your community to reduce excess carbon dioxide.
• Contact the parish or county officials to research local laws that
limit carbon emissions.
• Form a group of interested students to encourage a community plan to
plant more trees in commercial areas.
See attached. Student Materials include:
• Handout
1: WHERE’S
THE CARBON? ( PDF )
• Handout 2: FILM
QUESTIONS Activity Sheet ( PDF )
• Handout 3: GROUP
ASSIGNMENTS ( PDF )
• Handout 4: THE
CARBON CYCLE VOCABULARY ( PDF )
• Handout 5: THE
GREAT CARBON CYCLING QUIZ ( PDF )
