_CarbonCycleSE

Name: Date: Student Exploration: Carbon Cycle Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes. Vocabulary: atmosphere, biomass, biosphere, carbon reservoir, carbon sink, fossil fuel, geosphere, greenhouse gas, hydrosphere, lithosphere, photosynthesis Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) In the process of photosynthesis , plants take in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere and water (H 2 O) from the soil. Using the energy of sunlight, plants build molecules of glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) and oxygen (O 2 ). 1. How do plants on Earth affect the amount of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere? The oceanic CO2, exposed rocks, and land plants. 2. Animals eat plants and produce carbon dioxide and water. How do animals affect the amount of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere? They eat plants that process carbon dioxide and when they eat the plants there are fewer plants producing the carbon dioxide. Gizmo Warm-up The Carbon Cycle Gizmo allows you to follow the many paths an atom of carbon can take through Earth’s systems. To begin, notice the black carbon atom in the Atmospheric CO 2 area, highlighted in yellow. The glowing blue areas represent possible locations the carbon atom could go next. 1. From Earth’s atmosphere, where can the carbon atom go next? The oceanic CO2, exposed rocks, and land plants. 2. Click on Land plants and read the description. How did the carbon atom get from the atmosphere to a plant? Through photosynthesis, plants use energy from the sun to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. 3. Select Land animals . How did the carbon atom get from land plants into the animal? Animals consume plants. 4. Select Atmospheric CO 2 . How did the carbon atom get from land animals back to the atmosphere? Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Through cellular respiration, land animals release carbon back into the atmosphere. Activity A: Carbon pathways Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click Reset . Introduction: Earth can be divided into four systems. The atmosphere is the air above Earth’s surface. The hydrosphere is composed of all of Earth’s water. The geosphere is the rocky, non-living part of Earth. The biosphere consists of all living things, including people. Some scientists use the term “anthroposphere” to describe everything made or modified by humans. Question: How does carbon move between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere? 1. Explore: Use the Gizmo to create a path for carbon that begins and ends in the atmosphere. Fill in the steps in the path below. Then, label each location with the system it represents. Finally, summarize very briefly how the carbon atom got to that location. Carbon path System How it got there Atmospheric CO 2 Atmosphere Atmospheric CO 2 comes from volcanoes, burning fossil fuels, and other sources. Oceanic CO 2 Hydrosphere Coldwater dissolves more carbon dioxide. Marine Plants/Algae Biosphere Through photosynthesis, marine algae remove carbon dioxide from the ocean. Sediments Geosphere Sediments are where large amounts of carbon are stored. Lithosphere Geosphere The lithosphere has carbon-containing rocks. Volcano Geosphere Rocks are heated to high temps and are melted and carbon dioxide forms. Atmospheric CO 2 Atmosphere Atmospheric CO2 comes from volcanoes, burning fossil fuels, and other sources. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

1. When seashells are turned into limestone and are now becoming exposed rocks they are then exposed to the atmosphere. 2. Seashells turning into limestone then becoming a part of cement plants in which carbon is being released into the atmosphere. Activity B: Human activities Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click Reset . Introduction: Fossil fuels , such as coal, oil, and natural gas, formed over millions of years from the remains of ancient plants and animals. The burning of fossil fuels, as well as other human activities, increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Question: How does human activity affect the carbon cycle? 1. Describe: Using the Gizmo, determine how coal and petroleum (oil) are formed. Describe the steps required to form each fuel from atmospheric CO 2 . Coal: Land plants that accumulate in swaps can turned into coal. Petroleum: Uneaten plants become a part of sediment. 2. Explore: Natural gas is a mixture of methane (CH 4 ), ethane (C 2 H 6 ), and other gases. Find two ways that natural gas forms. List the steps of the two carbon pathways below: Path 1: Land plants that are compressed from swap coal and as a result, create natural gas. Path 2: Uneaten marine plants as animals pile up on time petroleum and natural gas is created. How is the formation of natural gas related to the formation of coal and petroleum? Everything used to make petroleum and coal are compressed and heated so that proess helps release the air that was in the various resources. 3. Describe: Fossil fuels are used in many ways. Using the Gizmo, describe the main use for each fuel. Coal: Coal is used to generate electricity. Petroleum: Petroleum is used for gasoline. Natural Gas: Natural gas is used for generating electricity. In each case, what is the end product of burning the fossil fuel, and where does it go? Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Its released into the atmosphere. 4. Explore: Another major contribution to atmospheric carbon dioxide is the cement industry. Using the Gizmo, find a carbon atom path from the atmosphere to the cement plant. (Hint: One of the ingredients in cement is limestone.) Path Atmosphere, Oceanic, Shells/corals, Limest, Cement Plant How is carbon dioxide produced in a cement plant? Limestone is heated releasing it into the atmosphere. 5. Analyze: Click Reset , then navigate to the Land animals . Select Atmospheric CH 4 . A. How do land animals create methane? Bacteria break down and undigested materials. B. Humans raise large numbers of cattle for food. How will these herds of cows affect Earth’s atmosphere? The cattle will be producing immense amounts of methane so there would be lots of carbon dioxide in the air. 6. Analyze: In many tropical rainforests, people clear land by cutting down trees and burning them. After a few years, the soil runs out of nutrients and cannot be farmed any longer. How does this practice of “slash and burn agriculture” affect Earth’s atmosphere? The pratice of slash and burn affects the earth’s atmosphere in a negative way. 7. Draw conclusions: In general, how do many human activities influence the carbon cycle? It influences the carbon cycle so there is more carbon being produced than there is in the first place. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

B. What is the total amount of carbon added to the atmosphere from soil and the burning of fossil fuels? 5000 and 2000 C. How much will atmospheric carbon change in one year? 1 year - 854 10 years - 8,540 100 years - 85,400 3. Calculate: Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that helps to trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. We need some CO 2 in the atmosphere to maintain a warm planet, but excess carbon can cause considerable warming of the planet. A. What fossil fuel usage will result in no change in atmospheric CO 2 each year? Carbon Dioxide B. What percentage decrease in fossil fuel usage is required to achieve this goal? 40% 4. Experiment: Using the Gizmo model, explore the following questions: A. How does increasing plant biomass (amount of plants) affect atmospheric CO 2 ? Conceptual diagram outlining important plant responses to higher concentrations of Carbon dioxide(CO2) in the atmosphere. B. How does increasing oceanic CO 2 intake affect atmospheric CO 2 and oceanic CO 2 ? The ocean would continue to soak up more & more carbon dioxide(Co2) until global warming heated the ocean enough to slow down ocean circulation. As carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean, the ocean becomes slightly more acidic. This could make it harder for many organisms to build their shells and skeletons. The consequences of ocean acidification are not yet fully understood. 5. Infer: Click Reset and Return to original settings . Suppose we completely stopped burning fossil fuels immediately. How many years would it take to return to atmospheric CO 2 levels from the year 1800, about 600 GtC? Use the Gizmo to find the answer. 50 years 6. Think about it: Since hard-shelled organisms evolved about 550 million years ago, billions of tons of limestone rock have been produced from their shells. Limestone is made of calcium carbonate, with the formula CaCO 3 . Atmospheric amount of carbon dioxide has increased in the last 550 million years which has affected the Earth's climate via global warming. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Based on this, how do you think the amount of atmospheric CO 2 has changed in the last 550 million years, and how has this affected Earth’s climate? Explain your answer. Carbon dioxide(Co2) has decreased over the last 200 million years. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved