The Carbon Cycle
Students, at the end of playing this game will be able to make the following model showing the carbon flow dynamics.
After a brief recap of the last unit in Ecology, students are familiar with the basic cycle of carbon flows between plants and animals. However, Carbon in sugar is directly circulated to the animals through consumption, but carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere after respiration. This enables carbon to travel to many other parts of the world and other reservoirs of carbon.
This activity helps the student to realize that there is a much larger dynamic system at play with carbon and become familiar with the various Carbon reservoirs.
There are three questions that I ask of the students:
Procedures:
After a brief recap of the last unit in Ecology, students are familiar with the basic cycle of carbon flows between plants and animals. However, Carbon in sugar is directly circulated to the animals through consumption, but carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere after respiration. This enables carbon to travel to many other parts of the world and other reservoirs of carbon.
This activity helps the student to realize that there is a much larger dynamic system at play with carbon and become familiar with the various Carbon reservoirs.
There are three questions that I ask of the students:
- Where else does carbon go?
- What forms does it take?
- What are the processes associated with the transfer of carbon?
Procedures:
- Have them create a travel log that indicates where they are at, what chemical or material they'll turn into, and the process they'll experience as they travel to the next destination.
- For 10 minutes, have the students participate in the Carbon Cycle game as described below.
- Have them pair up with someone not of their table.
- Meet up at a reservation station and record their starting position in their notebooks.
- Roll the dice that will tell them where to go next.
- Write down the information they need in the travel log and go to the next location.
- After 10 minutes of playing the game, have the students go back to their seats and discuss their traveling experiences.
- Ask the class if they see any clear patterns within their travel logs. Most likely they'll say no.
- Suggest converting a travel log into a travel map. Discuss satilite view vs. profile. Ask them which would make more sense.
- Have students create a brief profile view of the atmosphere, earth surface, and water surface. Place the atmosphere in the appropriate spot, then let them flesh out the rest with reservoirs and arrows depicting the traveling paths.
- Have them share their personal travel maps with each other.
- Ask them if their personal travel map is complete with all patterns revealed. Usually the answer is no.
- Have them combine it onto one group paper.
- Ask them how many spots they've visited and if all patterns are revealed.
- Reveal all stations on the map and assign a station to the groups of students.
- Have them:
- research all resources to the reservoir,
- all sinks the reservoir bleeds into and
- all processes associated with going in and out, and lastly,
- what forms does carbon take in the reservoir.
- Have them:
- Students will present their findings.
- As a class, we'll complete the Carbon Cycle map together.
General Information: Carbon Reservoirs & Fluxes
To understand how the level of atmospheric CO2 can change, scientsits carefully study the places in which carbon is stored (reservoirs), how long it stays there, and the processes that move it from reservoir to reservoir.
The carbon reservoirs and transfer process work together to create Earth's carbon cycle. Because the actual carbon cycle is so vast and complex (it includes every plant, animal, microbe, ocean, lake river, puddle, soil, sediment, volcanic eruption, etc.) it is often simplified to show only the most important pools and processes, as in the diagram below.
The carbon reservoirs and transfer process work together to create Earth's carbon cycle. Because the actual carbon cycle is so vast and complex (it includes every plant, animal, microbe, ocean, lake river, puddle, soil, sediment, volcanic eruption, etc.) it is often simplified to show only the most important pools and processes, as in the diagram below.
Reservoirs:
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Processes:
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Sources
- California Academy of Science
- National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT), Maning, C.
- NASA Earth Observatory