How Do Long and Short EM Waves Interact with the Earth's Atmosphere?
https://www.lsop.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/10/LongAndShortOfIt.pdf
https://www.lsop.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/10/LongAndShortOfIt.pdf
Little Shop of Physics, Center for Multi-Scale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes
This learning activity takes 30min.
Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»
See how this Short Demonstration/Experiment supports the Next Generation Science Standards»
Grade Level
Online Readiness
Topics
Climate Literacy
This Short Demonstration/Experiment builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
Energy Literacy
This Short Demonstration/Experiment builds on the following concepts of Energy Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- This activity requires a fairly large open space for students to move around.
- This activity is fairly straightforward but seems somewhat complex when starting. It would be good for students to practice before acting out the entire demonstration.
- When used at the middle school level, more instructions about the set up should be provided, perhaps with a diagram.
- In case the students have difficulty seeing the bigger picture while in the middle of the activity, teachers could film a "model" group of students or teachers doing the activity that could be watched later for discussion.
- It would be helpful to have party hats and/or other props for the game.
- The instructional pdf includes photos of students doing the activity, but it would helpful to also have a diagram of the greenhouse effect or a "model" video of the activity to get the big picture.
- Teachers would need to plan how to incorporate this activity into a larger lesson.
- The link to CMMAP (Center for Multi-scale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes) at CSU does not work and as of 2016 this NSF-funded Center is no longer active. The Earth System Modeling and Education Institute (ESMEI) at CSU now does this work: http://esmei.colostate.edu/
About the Content
- In this activity, students physically model the greenhouse effect.
- Students follow simple rules to model how greenhouse gases absorb and re-emit longwave radiation while allowing shortwave radiation to pass through.
- Students can see how this effects the distribution of radiation in the atmosphere.
About the Pedagogy
- This kinesthetic activity allows students to pretend to be the sun, earth, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and electromagnetic radiation.
- This activity engages students with learning through movement.
- The teacher should be familiar with the different roles students play and how to coordinate/manage movement.
- In addition to the kinesthetic activity, questions are included to facilitate discussion.
