In this lesson, students play the role of a carbon atom traveling through the carbon cycle before the Industrial Revolution and after.
Students create carbon cycle diagrams for pre and post-Industrial Revolution and answer questions to reflect on how humans are impacting Earth's systems.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This gamified lesson engages students through movement.
Students are able to construct their own understanding of the carbon cycle by actually participating in it.
Additional Prerequisites
Teachers will need to print station sheets and set them up around the room before class.
Each student (or pair of students if necessary) will need dice for this activity.
The lesson requires 45-90 minutes to complete and is best suited for two class periods.
Students should already be familiar with energy sources and uses.
Clicking "View Resource" will take you to the CLEAN website, then you click into BAESI's site, where you have to click on "Carbon Travels - Then and Now" to view the actual lesson plan.
Differentiation
The lesson includes multiple differentiation options, additional resources, and enrichment activities so teachers can tailor it to their classroom and students.
Interdisciplinary connections can be made between science, social studies, and English Language Arts.
Scientist Notes
This resource is from the CLEAN collection. “The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness.”
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS2: Earth's Systems
HS-ESS2-6 Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
HS-ESS2-7 Construct an argument based on evidence about the simultaneous coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth.
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
HS-ESS3-6 Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
PS1: Matter and its Interactions
MS-PS1-4 Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
HS-PS1-2 Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
