How has the amount of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere changed over the past 20 years? This site allows you to interact with graphs and datasets to answer this question.
Students will be able to see graphs depicting global average nitrous oxide amounts in the atmosphere and read text describing the data and how it was gathered.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The graphs are simple and easy to read.
Additional Prerequisites
Teachers may want to provide some background about nitrous oxide's relationship to climate change.
Teachers should clarify the units mole fraction and parts per billion if students are unfamiliar.
If the technical reading is distracting, there are PDFs of the graphs and data that teachers can use instead.
The data is also downloadable in CSV files.
Differentiation
The reading is very technical and is probably most appropriate for upper high school students.
Students can work independently or with a small group to create a list of noticings and wonderings about the data.
If teaching about greenhouse gases in general, check out this video by Hot Mess or this lesson by King's Center for Visualizations in Science.
Scientist Notes
Datasets have good quality. There is no contradiction in the resource. This resource is recommended.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
HS-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
