Forests and the carbon cycle.

Abstract

Game-Carbon Fingerprints • Students will explore their personal impact on carbon emissions through a simple board game in which they accumulate or lose points based on real life scenarios Math exercise-How Much Carbon Would a Woodchuck Chuck? • Students will be given a set of data and formulas and will then be asked to complete various carbon calculations including storage, offsets, and emissions involving a forest stand, a catastrophic wildfire, and our daily activities Life Cycle Assessment of Building Materials • Explores current thinking in research regarding environmental impact of various products through Life Cycle Assessment • Students design a research project using the Life Cycle Assessment approach to examine the environmental impacts of different building materials A1 A2 Forests and the Carbon Cycle CA State Science Standards Grade Standard Set Standard Description 8 Chemistry 6a, 6b Carbon has a central role in the chemistry of living things. Living organisms are made of molecules consisting largely of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur. 9-12 Chemistry 10a, 10b Bonding characteristics of carbon allow the formation of many different molecules. Life Science-Biology 1f Energy from the sun is captured by chloroplasts in the process of photosynthesis and is stored through the synthesis of sugars and starch from carbon dioxide, water and nutrients. Life Science-Ecology 6b, 6d Analyze changes in ecosystems resulting from changes in climate, human activity, etc. Know how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle in an ecosystem. Earth Science-Energy in Earth System 4b, 4c, 4d Incoming solar radiation is reflected, absorbed, or used in photosynthesis. Know that different atmospheric gases absorb Earth's thermal radiation and the significance of the greenhouse effect. Know the differing greenhouse conditions on Earth, Mars, and Venus; the origins of those conditions; and the climatic consequences of each. Earth Science-Biogeochemical Cycles 7a, 7b Know the global carbon cycle: the different physical and chemical forms of carbon in the atmosphere, oceans, biomass, fossil fuels, and the movement of carbon among these reservoirs. Investigation and Experimentation Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. Students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.