Activity #3: Climate Change
Materials: Thermometer x 2, Glass Jar x 2 , Alka-Seltzer Tablets , water , lamp (or Sun depending on weather)
STEP 1: Watch the video below and complete the summary in your workbook.
STEP 2: Now that you’ve watched videos about the greenhouse effect and climate change, explore the simulation below to visualize how it works. Try changing the amount of greenhouse gases, adding or removing clouds, and watching how the temperature and energy waves change. Use words like absorb, reflect, and emit to describe what you see. Write down your observations workbook. The simulation is embedded below—just scroll down and start exploring. We’ll do a full lab on this next. Click here if you need figuring out how the simulation works. Record your observations in your workbook.
STEP 3: Now that you’ve learned about the greenhouse effect through videos and the simulation, it’s time to try it for yourself. Your task is to show that carbon dioxide can trap heat, just like greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Using the materials provided, work with your team to plan how you’ll test this. Decide how you’ll make carbon dioxide, how you’ll measure temperature, and what things you need to keep the same in your setup. Hint: carbon dioxide is made when Alka-Seltzer reacts with water. You can also watch the below video to help you get ideas for your experiment. Record the experiment in your workbook.
STEP 4: Now that you’ve completed your greenhouse effect experiment, it’s time to step back and see how our planet has already been changing. Use the Google Earth Timelapse simulation embedded below to explore how different places on Earth have changed over the past few decades due to climate impacts. In your workbook, choose one location to focus on, describe the changes you observe, and write a few sentences explaining how these changes might be connected to what you’ve learned about greenhouse gases and global warming.