Carbon Through the Seasons EQ: How do concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere vary as the seasons change?

Procedure Students will work with their assigned lab groups. Each lab group will be assigned one set of years of “Mauna Loa Observatory Data” Calculators and colored pencils can be found in the supply bins.

Procedure (cont.) Students will learn about the carbon cycle by looking at monthly atmosphere CO2 concentration data from 1959 to 2011. Data collected from Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii Measurements from Mauna Loa are representative of global average CO2 levels.

Learn the Basics: Today’s Climate Change Click on video to play

Carbon Cycle The movement and exchange of carbon through living organisms, the ocean, the atmosphere, rocks and minerals, and other parts of the Earth. Carbon moves from one place to another through various chemical, physical geological, and biological processes.

Greenhouse gas “Heat-trapping gases” Natural or manmade gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect Include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases.

Parts per million (ppm) Unit of measurement that describes the concentration of a particular substance within air, water, soil, or some other medium. 400 ppm means 1 million liters of air would contain about 400 liters of carbon dioxide.

Procedure (cont.) Each student will receive the following at the start of the activity Mauna Loa Data Worksheet Mauna Loa Observatory Data There are five decades of data so each lab group is responsible for graphing a decade. As each student finishes their graph and Mauna Loa Data Worksheet they should be given the Analysis Questions with graph on the back.