Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Classroom Activities: What Is My Carbon Footprint?
Everyone leaves an impression on the world—some more than others. An interactive lesson has learners analyze their lifestyles and the impact they have on the environment. The analysis includes travel, food, and energy categories and ends...
Concord Consortium
Sunlight, Infrared, CO2, and the Ground
How bright are your classes? An interactive lesson has scholars explore how light interacts with carbon dioxide in the air and the surface of the earth. They watch a temperature scale as light interacts with the environment.
NorthEast Ohio Geoscience Education Outreach
Carbon Cycle
Using a jigsaw approach, earth science experts teach each other about the physical, biological, and geologic components of the carbon cycle, with a specific focus on the ocean.
Curated OER
High School EcoHouse Curriculum
How has the level of carbon dioxide changed over recent years, and what is contributing it? Groups work together to research and present their findings in a creative way. Also built into the lesson is a visit to a sustainable house, but...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Ocean Acidification
Human impacts on the environment can sometimes be difficult to measure, especially under water! An activity centered on ocean acidification gives science scholars the opportunity to examine the effects of carbon dioxide on marine life....
Chicago Botanic Garden
Personal Choices and the Planet
How big is your footprint? Activity three culminates the series by having groups complete carbon footprint audits with people in their schools and/or around the districts. Groups then gather their data, create a presentation including...
Curated OER
Carbon and The Molecular Diversity of Life
Biodiversity begins at the molecular level. When biology pupils complete this worksheet, they will explore a variety of organic compounds that are necessary for life. Six short-answer questions and a chart of the functional groups are to...
US Environmental Protection Agency
Getting to the Core: The Link Between Temperature and Carbon Dioxide
Polar ice samples provide scientists with valuable information about the condition of the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years in the past. Of particular interest is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its...
Curated OER
Carbon Dioxide
Students conduct a series of experiments to explore carbon dioxide properties. In this chemistry lesson, students explain the production and uses of this gas. They measure its amount in soda and waste product of yeast.
Curated OER
Connection to Fine Arts: Carbon-Dating Masterpieces
In this carbon dating worksheet, students read about how carbon-14 is used to date historical paintings. They answer questions about carbon dating and its importance.
Curated OER
Climate Change: Carbon Cycle
Students explore the carbon cycle. In this carbon cycle lesson plan, students discuss the four main reservoirs where carbon is stored and then discover the process through which each reservoir absorbs and releases CO2. This lesson plan...
Curated OER
Ecology 5 - Carbon and Oxygen Cycles
High schoolers construct their own diagrams outlining the pathway of carbon and oxygen in our atmosphere. They listen to a lecture on the carbon cycle while drawing an example of the carbon cycle on the board. Students comprehend that...
Curated OER
Carbon Cycle Game
For this carbon cycle lesson, middle schoolers review the carbon cycle and visit stations in the room where they experience every phase in the carbon cycle. Middle schoolers journal about their journey through the cycle and...
Curated OER
The Carbon Cycle
For this carbon cycle worksheet, students will read about the carbon cycle and study a diagram showing what creates carbon dioxide and what uses carbon dioxide. Students will then complete 4 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Avoiding Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Burning Fossil Fuels
Young scholars calculate stoichiometrically the amount of carbon dioxide that would be emitted from burning a mole of varios alkanes that comprise fossile fuels. If the energy released from burning a mole of these alkanes is known, then...
Curated OER
Trapping CO2
Students investigate climate change and how the properties of carbon dioxide and methane play a part. In this climate activity students use a chemical reaction to trap CO2 and methane.
Creative Chemistry
Thermal Decomposition of Calcium Carbonate
For this thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate learning exercise, students perform three experiments on calcium carbonate, make observations, and write the equations for each reaction. Students explain in detail what happened at...
Curated OER
The Influence of Carbon Dioxide on the Chemistry of Soda
Students investigate the carbon dioxide content of different sodas. For this chemistry lesson, students explain why PET containers are preferable than HDPE for soda bottles. They collect data and graph them.
Curated OER
Sampling Carbon Dioxide
Students perform an experiment to determine which source of gas (their breath, exhaust from a car, or the air in the classroom) has a greater concentration of carbon dioxide. Students compare the colors of BTB solutions after...
Curated OER
An Environmental Puzzle: The Carbon Cycle
Students are introducced to how respiration and photosysnthesis cycle carbon through ecosystems. They read background information that describes the role of the Sun as Earth's ultimate energy source and explains how the energy...
Curated OER
Frosty the Snowman Meets His Demise: An Analogy to Carbon Dating
Learners read and discuss an article about carbon dating, then participate in a hands-on lab to discover how carbon dating works. Students also write a letter to a friend explaining the process, and how archeologists use the process to...
Curated OER
Chemistry of Carbon - Building Blocks of Life
A great review of the structure and function of carbon-based molecules important to life, especially with relevance to humans. The chemistry behind the combination of polymers and the breakdown of bonds is covered. Valuable content...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Carbon Dioxide & Krill: Impacts
What effects do temperature and carbon dioxide levels have on the zooplankton of Antarctica? This concluding lesson plan in a short unit on climate change and the ocean helps environmental scientists answer these questions. After...
California Academy of Science
Carbon Cycle Role Play
Anytime you make concepts clear with role playing or hands-on experience, it's a win for the whole class. Ping-Pong balls are used to represent carbon in a carbon cycle role-play activity. In small groups, children first discuss what...