Cycle 2

In the previous cycle, students analyzed and interpreted data on ice cores, glacial retreat, sea temperature, sea level rise, phenology, and extreme events to develop arguments regarding anthropogenic climate change.

In this cycle, students will construct an explanation that answers the guiding question: What factors contribute to climate change? To answer this question, students will use a model of the carbon cycle, without human intervention, to explain how carbon is stored in reservoirs on Earth for various lengths of time, and moved from reservoir to reservoir through different natural processes. They will carry out investigations to determine the relationship between Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and temperature changes. Next, students will obtain information from a reading and a model to explore the greenhouse effect, and explain that CO2 is a greenhouse gas. They will revisit the carbon cycle model, considering human intervention in the cycle, in order to construct explanations about how humans activities have changed where in the carbon cycle, carbon is being stored. As a result of increased CO2 in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect has been amplified, causing the global climate to warm. Students will analyze and interpret data and diagrams to explain what sectors are contributing to climate change. Finally, they will use their learning from the cycle to construct arguments about the relationship between the carbon cycle, human activities, and climate change.

In the next cycle, students will use models to explain the possible effects of climate change based on various emission scenarios. They will also explore how humans can reduce their impacts on Earth’s climate.