9-12 High School
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have been changing globally since about 1785. Ice core samples indicate that prior to the late 1700s, CO2 levels were around 280 parts per million (ppm). In 1885, CO2 levels peaked at 293 ppm as a direct result of the Industrial Revolution, a period powered by coal combustion. As industrialization continued worldwide to include fossil fuel cars and electric power plants, CO2 levels rose to 349 ppm. In 2014, CO2 levels reached 400 ppm, and today, atmospheric levels are hovering around 416 ppm.
Carbon dioxide levels are often associated with climate change, but this is just one piece of the puzzle. How are changing atmospheric CO2 levels impacting the cycling of carbon in the hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere? One method used to examine the interactions between atmospheric carbon dioxide and the biosphere is to measure global leaf cover. Since plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis, it can be hypothesized that as CO2 levels increase, leaf cover should increase. Using satellite imagery, scientists can study the relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide and global leaf cover (as seen in the map below).
In this activity, students use data from 2015 through 2020 to build on the model shown in the map below. They are asked to modify the model presented for 2015 to explain predicted leaf cover for 2016, 2018, and 2020 after calculating percent change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
Look at the map. The scale indicates percent change in the amount of leaf area worldwide from 1982 to 2015. What patterns do you notice?
How can global leaf cover and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels model interactions between the atmosphere and biosphere within the carbon cycle?
PE HS-ESS2-6. Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
PE 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.
Developing and Using Models
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
Energy and Matter
Systems and System Models
No PPE is required for this activity.
1. Based on the global CO2 levels from 2015 to present, construct a graph of CO2 levels in parts per million (ppm).
2. Calculate annual average and percent change for each year from 2015 to 2020.
3. Using your data for percent global CO2 change in parts per million since 2015 as a starting point, construct a global leaf cover model for 2016, 2018, and 2020. Each year, CO2 increases, so the shade of green should darken indicating more leaf area. What were shades of yellow, students may change to green.
Use the historical and current data to propose a model for the cycling of carbon through changes in atmospheric CO2 levels and global leaf cover. Your model may be a graphic, flow chart, or written explanation.
Student answers may vary, but key points include the following: as atmospheric CO2 increases, more CO2 is available to plants for photosynthesis, more photosynthesis means more leaf production, and more leaf production means more global leaf area, which means a greener planet.
Compare your model to the one described in the 2016 article “Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds,” which represents changes from 1982 to 2015. Are the models consistent for explaining the phenomenon of leaf cover change? Explain.
Student answers will vary, but student models should show darker shades of green as CO2 levels increase.
1. Which type of pipe or tube interacted most strongly with the magnet? What evidence supports your claim?
Electric conductivity (10.E6 Siemens/m)
https://www.tibtech.com/conductivite.php?lang=en_US
Copper slowed the magnet the most, so it produced the strongest electrical field to interact with the magnetic field. See the electrical conductivity table above.
2. Which type of pipe or tube interacted the least with the magnet? What evidence supports your claim? PVC – had no effect on the time it took the magnet to fall.
3. Explain which pipes or tube are most likely electrical conductors. What evidence supports your claim? Copper and aluminum are electrical conductors. Both pipes increased the time for the magnet to fall. See the table above.
4. Explain whether the number of magnets made a difference in the time. More magnets create a stronger magnetic field strengthening the opposing interacting forces, increasing the time it took the magnet to fall.
5. Using your data as evidence, explain the interaction between electric and magnetic forces. There are opposing forces, the magnetic field and the electric field, interacting between the magnet and the copper and aluminum pipes which increases the time it takes for the magnet to fall. This is Lenz’s Law.
6. Using the same materials, how could this experiment be modified to collect additional data to support the claim you made in item 4. Student answers will vary but here are some suggestions. Take some aluminum off the roll to investigate if the time changes. Use a ring magnet traveling on the outside of the pipe instead of the disk magnet traveling on the inside of the pipe. Lengthen the pipes.
Develop models showing the biological, geological, and anthropogenic impacts to the carbon cycle in the classroom. In this series of 4 activities, students explain the patterns in atmospheric carbon dioxide data over the past 800,000 years. They describe biogeochemical cycles; analyze atmospheric carbon dioxide data; explore biological, geological, and anthropogenic processes dealing with the carbon cycle; conduct an activity to explore a method of carbon sequestration; and then play a game to model some of the anthropogenic impacts on the carbon cycle.
*Next Generation Science Standards® is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of, and do not endorse, these products.
Prep: 15 | Activity: 30-45
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have been changing globally since about 1785. Ice core samples indicate that prior to the late 1700s, CO2 levels were around 280 parts per million (ppm). In 1885, CO2 levels peaked at 293 ppm as a direct result of the Industrial Revolution, a period powered by coal combustion. As industrialization continued worldwide to include fossil fuel cars and electric power plants, CO2 levels rose to 349 ppm. In 2014, CO2 levels reached 400 ppm, and today, atmospheric levels are hovering around 416 ppm.
Carbon dioxide levels are often associated with climate change, but this is just one piece of the puzzle. How are changing atmospheric CO2 levels impacting the cycling of carbon in the hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere? One method used to examine the interactions between atmospheric carbon dioxide and the biosphere is to measure global leaf cover. Since plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis, it can be hypothesized that as CO2 levels increase, leaf cover should increase. Using satellite imagery, scientists can study the relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide and global leaf cover (as seen in the map below).
In this activity, students use data from 2015 through 2020 to build on the model shown in the map below. They are asked to modify the model presented for 2015 to explain predicted leaf cover for 2016, 2018, and 2020 after calculating percent change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
Look at the image below. The scale indicates percent change in the amount of leaf area worldwide from 1982 to 2015. What patterns do you notice?
How can global leaf cover and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels model interactions between the atmosphere and biosphere within the carbon cycle?
PE HS-ESS2-6. Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
PE 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.
Developing and Using Models
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
Energy and Matter
Systems and System Models
No PPE is required for this activiy.
Copy or upload the student activity sheets.
1. Based on the global CO2 levels from 2015 to present, construct a graph of CO2 levels in parts per million (ppm).
2. Calculate annual average and percent change for each year from 2015 to 2020.
3. Using your data for percent global CO2 change in parts per million since 2015 as a starting point, construct a global leaf cover model for 2016, 2018, and 2020. Each year, CO2 increases, so the shade of green should darken indicating more leaf area. What were shades of yellow, students may change to green.
Use the historical and current data to propose a model for the cycling of carbon through changes in atmospheric CO2 levels and global leaf cover. Your model may be a graphic, flow chart, or written explanation.
Student answers may vary, but key points include the following: as atmospheric CO2 increases, more CO2 is available to plants for photosynthesis, more photosynthesis means more leaf production, and more leaf production means more global leaf area, which means a greener planet.
Compare your model to the one described in the 2016 article “Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds,” which represents changes from 1982 to 2015. Are the models consistent for explaining the phenomenon of leaf cover change? Explain.
Student answers will vary, but student models should show darker shades of green as CO2 levels increase.
*Next Generation Science Standards® is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of, and do not endorse, these products.
Get the latest news, free activities, teacher tips, product info, and more delivered to your inbox.