GLOBE Carbon Cycle: Investigating the Carbon Cycle in Terrestrial Ecosystems University of New Hampshire: Jennifer Bourgeault, Rita Freuder, Lara Gengarelly, Mary Martin, Scott Ollinger, Sarah Sallade, Annette Schloss, Haley Wicklein Czech Republic: Jana Albrechtova, Kateřina Čiháková, Zuzana Lhotakova, Barbora Semeráková, Premek Stych, Dana Votapkova   GLOBE Program Office: Gary Randolph

The Science Team Sarah Sallade Scott Ollinger Mary Martin Annette Schloss Jen Bourgeault Haley Wicklein Gary Randolph Lara Gengarelly Rita Freuder Jana Albrechtova

Outline The GLOBE Program The Carbon Cycle Project Goals Project Activities Project Website Promoting Student Inquiry

GLOBE Hands-on, school and community-based science and education program Unites students, teachers, and scientists in study and research about the dynamics of the Earth’s environment. Over a million GLOBE students in 18,000 schools located in over 100 countries have taken part in GLOBE activities. GLOBE Program Goals: Improve science education Increase scientific understanding of the Earth as a system Enhance the environmental awareness of individuals worldwide

Carbon Cycle Project Goals Students will… Learn why carbon is an important element in ecosystems, and how it cycles through ecosystems. Gain skills in current carbon cycle research techniques. Increase their ability to critically think about problems. Understand the nature of science research.

Activities Major Categories: Carbon Cycle Introductory Activities Classroom Experiments Field Measurements Modeling

Systems & Modeling Introduces students to the use of models in science Applicable to students around the world Learn how carbon is stored and transferred at the ecosystem and global level Understand ways that carbon can change with a change in environmental conditions Connection to field collected data

Introductory Activities Provide general background information about the global carbon cycle Introduce students to the major fluxes and pools Uses systems diagramming to make connections between cycle components Address the concepts of units, residence time, turnover rate, and issues of scale

Classroom Experiments Hands-on activities: range of cultivation experiments with real plants Exploration and validation of variables necessary for plant growth Demonstration that CO2 is incorporated into plant biomass Understand changes in carbon storage at the plant and ecosystem level

Field Measurements Designed similarly to existing GLOBE protocols Comparison of measurements between schools Allow students to make connections between the global C cycle and their own schoolyard Highlight use of tools and measurement in field investigations Promote the use of GLOBE Model for Student Scientific Research

Website & Materials Access http://globecarboncycle.unh.edu Website & Materials Access Email: info@globecarboncycle.unh.edu

File Name: GMSSR Core Final 01202011

File Name: GMSSR Expanded Final 01202011.eps

Curriculum Framing Questions “What types of questions might guide our teaching and engage students in uncovering the important ideas at the heart of each subject?” Essential Questions: Why is it important to understand carbon? How do climate changes affect human lives? How can we use systems thinking to understand the world? “What types of questions might guide our teaching and engage students in uncovering the important ideas at the heart of each subject?” Essential questions should be based on classroom, teaching team, subject area, or school goals. Information in this document about curriculum framing questions is taken from Understanding by Design and the Intel Education website. Wiggins, Grant, and J. McTighe. Understanding by Design. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001 Intel Education: Designing Effective Projects: Curriculum-Framing Questions. <http://www97.intel.com/en/ProjectDesign/Design/CurriculumQuestions/>

Curriculum Framing Questions Unit Questions: How is carbon an important element in the Earth system? Does the carbon cycle in land ecosystems relate to climate change? If climate changes how would you expect vegetation & carbon storage to change? Globally? Locally? Can scientists measure the total amount of carbon stored and cycled in land ecosystems? How much carbon is stored in vegetation? Locally? Globally? How does the uptake of carbon by schoolyard vegetation compare to the emissions of carbon (carbon footprint) by the school? Is there more carbon stored in the global human population or trees in New Hampshire? “The [essential] question may simply prove to be too global, abstract, or inaccessible for students…Unit questions are more subject- and topic specific, and therefore better suited for framing particular content and inquiry, leading to the often more subtle essential questions.” Unit questions may be developed after the essential question is set, and selected based on the specific content and skills students should gain during a particular unit or course. Unit questions have no one obvious “right” answer, but should frame a specific set of lessons. They require multiple lines of research or thinking and uncover the subject’s controversies, puzzles, and perspectives.

Curriculum Framing Questions   Content Questions: Where and how is CO2 stored in a plant? What is biomass and how is it measured? How do scientists measure trees? How is allometry used to calculate forest biomass? How much carbon is being stored in the trees near my school? What determines the upper limit of biomass in a given ecosystem? Content questions are specific. They have “right” answers that can only be achieved when a student has gained the appropriated skills and knowledge. Content questions align with content standards and learning objectives set out by the nation, state, school and teacher. Content questions are designed to support unit and essential questions.

Facilitator: Step 1: Allow participants to view this diagram and compare it to the one we just created. (State observed differences/similarities, is there anything missing from this diagram?) Step 2: Discussion Getting to Know Global Carbon - Part 2 of the student directions Step 3: Lead in to the Global Carbon Cycle Computer Model. Step 4: Install iSee Player