Lesson 3.2
How much impact will reducing emissions have on the carbon imbalance?
Lesson Type:
Investigate
Time:
90 min
The main role of this lesson is to investigate solutions that reduce CO2 entering the atmosphere, and they will realize that solving this problem with emission-reduction solutions alone may be difficult to implement. This will motivate investigating plant-soil systems as another approach to rebalancing the carbon cycle.
What We Do:
Read about different emissions-cutting solutions using infographic cards.
Use an interactive to test different combinations of solutions and see how they impact atmospheric carbon.
Weigh trade-offs of solutions.
What We Figure Out:
CO2 (and temperature) will continue to rise unless we get close to zero emissions, but this is not very feasible right now for our communities.
Certain solutions to cut emissions have a higher carbon impact than others; it will take a combination of solutions to meet our goal.
Example of Student Work
The following are examples of students' work from the Emission Reduction Challenge.
NGSS Learning Goal
Use a computational model to simulate systems and generate data about the current impact of human-generated GHGs and the potential impacts of modifying human activities.
Evaluate the impact of new data generated from a computational system model of emission-reducing technologies and behaviors on future atmospheric carbon dioxide scenarios and then compare the competing arguments for design solutions based on evidence, limitations, and trade-offs.