http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003300/a003307/index.html
Greg Shirah, Jim Callatz, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»
See how this Animation
supports the Next Generation Science Standards»Middle School: 3 Disciplinary Core Ideas, 4 Cross Cutting Concepts, 3 Science and Engineering Practices
High School: 3 Performance Expectations, 7 Disciplinary Core Ideas, 4 Cross Cutting Concepts, 2 Science and Engineering Practices
Topics
Grade Level
Climate Literacy
About Teaching Climate Literacy
5b 
5bOther materials addressing 5b
Notes From Our Reviewers
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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," so it's suggested that the focus of this video is just on the changes of atmospheric CO2.
- An explanation of missing carbon 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 that the rise of atmospheric CO2 since the industrial revolution is extraordinary.
- There is no background material accompanying this animation, no information on the details of how these data were developed.
Related URLs These related sites were noted by our reviewers but have not been reviewed by CLEAN
There are three videos in this series, although there is no contextual information to stitch them together. http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/search.cgi?series=211
Next Generation Science Standards See how this Animation supports:
Middle School
Disciplinary Core Ideas: 3
MS-LS1.C1:Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use.
MS-PS3.D1:The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen.
MS-PS3.D2:Cellular respiration in plants and animals involve chemical reactions with oxygen that release stored energy. In these processes, complex molecules containing carbon react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and other materials.
Cross Cutting Concepts: 4
MS-C1.2: Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural and human designed systems
MS-C1.3: Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships.
MS-C1.4:Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data.
MS-C3.1:Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.
Science and Engineering Practices: 3
MS-P4.1:Construct, analyze, and/or interpret graphical displays of data and/or large data sets to identify linear and nonlinear relationships.
MS-P4.2:Use graphical displays (e.g., maps, charts, graphs, and/or tables) of large data sets to identify temporal and spatial relationships.
MS-P4.3: Distinguish between causal and correlational relationships in data.
High School
Performance Expectations: 3
HS-ESS2-1: Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.
HS-ESS2-2: Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
HS-ESS2-7: Construct an argument based on evidence about the simultaneous coevolution of Earth’s systems and life on Earth.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: 7
HS-ESS2.D1:The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, as well as its reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and this energy’s re-radiation into space.
HS-ESS2.D2:Gradual atmospheric changes were due to plants and other organisms that captured carbon dioxide and released oxygen.
HS-ESS2.D3:Changes in the atmosphere due to human activity have increased carbon dioxide concentrations and thus affect climate.
HS-ESS2.E1:The many dynamic and delicate feedbacks between the biosphere and other Earth systems cause a continual co-evolution of Earth’s surface and the life that exists on it.
HS-ESS3.D1:Though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts.
HS-LS1.C4:As a result of these chemical reactions, energy is transferred from one system of interacting molecules to another. Cellular respiration is a chemical process in which the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and new compounds are formed that can transport energy to muscles. Cellular respiration also releases the energy needed to maintain body temperature despite ongoing energy transfer to the surrounding environment.
HS-PS3.D2:The main way that solar energy is captured and stored on Earth is through the complex chemical process known as photosynthesis.
Cross Cutting Concepts: 4
HS-C1.1:Different patterns may be observed at each of the scales at which a system is studied and can provide evidence for causality in explanations of phenomena
HS-C1.5:Empirical evidence is needed to identify patterns.
HS-C2.1:Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
HS-C3.4:Using the concept of orders of magnitude allows one to understand how a model at one scale relates to a model at another scale.
Science and Engineering Practices: 2
HS-P4.1:Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.
HS-P4.2:Apply concepts of statistics and probability (including determining function fits to data, slope, intercept, and correlation coefficient for linear fits) to scientific and engineering questions and problems, using digital tools when feasible.
