Missing Carbon: CO2 Growth in the last 400,000 Years
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003300/a003307/index.html
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003300/a003307/index.html
Greg Shirah, Jim Callatz, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
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Topics
Grade Level
Climate Literacy
About Teaching Climate Literacy
5b 
5bEnvironmental observations are the foundation for understanding the climate system. From the bottom of the ocean to the surface of the Sun, instruments on weather stations, buoys, satellites, and other platforms collect climate data. To learn about past climates, scientists use natural records, such as tree rings, ice cores, and sedimentary layers. Historical observations, such as native knowledge and personal journals, also document past climate change.
Other materials addressing 5b
Benchmarks for Science Literacy
Learn more about the Benchmarks
Scientific investigations usually involve the collection of relevant data, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising hypotheses and explanations to make sense of the collected data.
Sometimes, scientists can control conditions in order to obtain evidence. When that is not possible, practical, or ethical, they try to observe as wide a range of natural occurrences as possible to discern patterns.
Notes From Our Reviewers
The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness.
Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- Educators will need to supply their own context for this animation.
- The resource doesn't address the title "Missing Carbon". See http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/search/Series/MissingCarbon.html. This is the third video in the Missing Carbon series.
- An explanation of missing carbon exercise is at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/BOREASCarbon/
About the Science
- A short animation that shows how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has fluctuated over time.
- Comments from expert scientist: This is a very nice animation showing the atmospheric CO2 concentrations as measured at Mauna Loa and reconstructed from ice cores. It requires background and introductory instruction prior to use. Does not work as a stand alone resource.
About the Pedagogy
- This simple presentation makes it clear how extraordinary the levels of atmospheric CO2 are since the industrial revolution.
- There is no background material accompanying this animation, no information on where/how these data were developed.
- Teachers should pose to students the question of "what is missing carbon and where is the missing carbon going?"
Related URLs These related sites were noted by our reviewers but have not been reviewed by CLEAN
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