BIOLOGY LESSON PLAN

Discovering the Carbon Cycle

Author’s Name: Sheri Johnson

Title of lesson: Discovering the Carbon Cycle

Technology Lesson: no

Length of lesson: 45 minutes

Name of course: Biology

Grade level: 9th

Source of the lesson: Royal Society of Chemistry: The Biology Institute

http://www.chemsoc.org/networks/learnnet/jesei/lab/teachers.pdf#search=%22carbon%20cycle%20lab%22

TEKS addressed:

Biology 3. Scientific processes. The student uses critical thinking and scientific problem solving to make informed decisions. The student is expected to:

(E) evaluate models according to their adequacy in representing biological objects or events; and

Biology 12.  Science concepts. The student knows that interdependence and interactions occur within an ecosystem. The student is expected to:

(A)  analyze the flow of energy through various cycles including the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and water cycles;

Concept(s):

Carbon is found on the Earth in three large reservoirs—in the atmosphere as CO2 gas, in the oceans as dissolved CO2 gas, and underground as coal, petroleum and calcium carbonate rock. It is obtained and used by many organisms and is necessary for them to live. Knowing about the carbon cycle allows one to have a better understanding of things that affect us today such as Global Warming.

Performance or learner outcomes

Students should already have some knowledge of photosynthesis

Students will be able to:

ü Describe the carbon cycle

ü Explain where each component on the cycle gets carbon from

ü Describe the processes in which carbon is transferred

Resources, materials and supplies needed

Per Group:

Poster board

Tape

Markers

a stoppered test tube, labeled ‘Atmosphere’

grass or leaf (or a picture)

picture of animal

bag of soil

test-tube of water labeled ‘seawater’

sea shells

coal or stoppered test tube with food colored water labeled ‘gas’

a stoppered test tube with ‘oil’ (chocolate syrup) labeled ‘oil’

limestone rock

9 Cards all labeled ‘Source’ and each labeled one of the following:

CO2 in the atmosphere, Carbon in plants, Carbon in Animals, Carbon in soil, Dissolved CO2 in salt water, Calcium Carbonate in marine life (hard parts), carbon in natural gas and coal, carbon in oil, carbon in rocks.

13 Cards all labeled ‘Path’ and each labeled one of the following:

CO2 released in respiration (2x), carbonate rocks formed when dead marine organisms settle to the bottom of the ocean, CO2 released when carbonate rocks are vaporized inside volcanoes, Fossil Fuels burned (ie, coal, gas, oil etc.) (2x), decomposition of plants and animals (3x), burning of plants, CO2 taken up by plants for photosynthesis (2x), CO2 dissolved in ocean (CO2 moves between the ocean and the atmosphere)

Safety Considerations

Don’t use real gas or oil just in case a test tube accidentally breaks

Tell students to be careful with test tubes (provide a test-tube rack)

Remind students as always that they can’t taste anything in science labs

Supplementary materials, handouts

A few weeks before the lesson get two plants and keep them where they can get plenty of light. Place a large glass jar over one. Put a cup of soda lime crystals next to the other and place a jar over it as well. After a few weeks the one with the soda lime crystals will die because the soda lime will absorb the CO2 in the air. (This can be done when teaching about photosynthesis, and then you can save the plants and show them to students during this lesson to remind them.)

Five-E Template

Teacher Does Probing Questions Student responses

Misconceptions

Engage: “Today we are going to talk about another important part of your ecosystem. As we work today keep in mind how the topic of today’s activity will be influenced by the new Big Box store in your community.” (Students should have already studied photosynthesis and a plant’s requirements; they should also already have studied respiration) Show students the two plants already prepared (see above, supplementary materials). “Just as water has a cycle, so does carbon.” Time: 5 minutes

Why did this plant die? What was is needing that it couldn’t get? Where is carbon at on Earth? What things contain carbon?

It didn’t have Carbon dioxide and couldn’t perform photosynthesis. Animals, Plants, fossil fuels, rocks, atmosphere.

Explore: Pass out the materials to the students. Have them work in groups of three. Go over each material with them. Tell them why each thing has carbon, or ask them if they know why. The students will have to organize the materials they are given into a cycle. They will use the “source” cards to label the items and use the “path” cards to show how carbon gets from one object to the rest. Use an arrow to show the direction. Have them put these cards on the poster board when they are done. Allow students to figure it out on their own, accepting all attempts. Tell them to think about all the processes that go on it life when trying to order their cycle. Time: 25 minutes

Why does fossil fuels have carbon? Where do they get it from? (students may not know) What has carbon that we interact with? How could carbon get out of the air?

They get carbon from dead plant material that is compressed. Plants, animals, the air. Plants “breathe” it for Photosynthesis

Explain: Put all the posters somewhere at the front of the room. Ask students questions about their posters. Point out the similarities as well as the differences. Make sure students know that when an organism dies its carbon does not all follow one path, but can split up and follow many different paths. Time: 15 minutes

Why did you show carbon flowing from here to here? What process allows carbon to move from this spot to this spot? Which products of the carbon cycle: ~ can you see out of the window? ~ can you never see? ~ might you see in a quarry? ~ are fluids (liquids or gases)? ~ last the longest?

Answers will vary. ~Green plants, land animals, soil, limestone. ~Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and dissolved in seawater, natural gas. ~Limestone, coal, soil, plants, land animals, the hard parts of marine animals. ~Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, natural gas, oil, dissolved carbon dioxide in seawater. ~Limestone, coal, oil/natural gas trapped in rocks, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Extend / Elaborate:

This lesson will be extended by a lesson taught immediately after this about the greenhouse effect. Refer back to this lesson to allow students to see the importance of the carbon cycle, and reinforce the importance of the global warming.

Time: 0 minutes (done on subsequent day)

Evaluate:

Students will have to put together a carbon cycle for their environment and explain how putting a Big Box store in their community will affect the carbon cycle. This will be done in the form of a write-up and some sort of presentation (power point). This will be done on a subsequent day as well.

Time: 0 minutes (done on subsequent class day)