Balloon or Bust: Lessons About Climate Change and CO - two - School
Overview:
This hands-on session is designed to expose educators to a brief lesson plan for teaching about global
warming, greenhouse gas and alternative energy. Participants will learn about the origins and impacts of
greenhouse gas and about some of the available technologies to reduce emissions. The lesson will
feature a demo which will help students visualize the scale of climate change using dry ice. Key scientific
concepts include: ideal gas law, unit conversions, order of magnitude and chemical phase.
Objectives:
 Educate students about the science theory behind climate change.
 Creatively apply and educate students about the scientific concepts of phase and phase change,
ideal gas law and heat capacity.
 Educate pupils about the politics and controversy in today’s society
Target Demographic:
The lesson may be tuned to students from 8th grade through 12th grade.
Timing:
The lesson may take between 2-3 hours depending on the presentation length, the breadth of subjects
covered and the demo length.
Contents:
1.0 Balloon or Bust: Lessons About Climate Change
1.1 Introduction to Climate Change
1.2 Key Scientific Concepts
1.3 Let’s Do Some Math (including worksheet)
2.0 Demonstration Instructions: CO – two – School
2.1 Main Demonstration
2.2 Supplemental Activity
3.0 Post Lesson Discussion
4.0 Sample PowerPoint Slides
The accompanying presentation and worksheet is available at:
http://iknowgreen.uconn.edu/?p=155&preview=true
http://gk12.engr.uconn.edu/
Note: As with any lesson, this one will need to be tailored to the class. Adjust the content and pace
accordingly.
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1.1 Introduction to Climate Change:
a) Introduction
a. Ask students to describe what the following words mean:
i. Climate Change
ii. Greenhouse Gas
iii. Carbon Emissions
b. Also ask the students:
i. Where have you learned about climate change the most?
ii. Where does Greenhouse Gas come from?
b) Motivation
a. Explain:
i. The world around us affects us everyday
ii. We need to be cognizant of how our actions affect our environment and the
future
b. Ask students: What are some ways that we can affect our environment? Answers can be
either positive or negative
c) The Background of Climate Change
a. How does climate change happen?
i. The sun provides us with a lot of energy (example: solar panels)
ii. This energy can either be absorbed or reflected
iii. Energy from the sun that’s absorbed can be converted into heat, which will then
travel back through this atmosphere
iv. The composition of our atmosphere will affect how much of that heat is
retained
v. The atmosphere is mostly made of nitrogen (N2, ~79%) and oxygen (O2, ~20.9%),
but has some other gasses like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and helium
(He)
vi. When the amount of some of the other gasses (namely carbon dioxide and
methane) increases, they will absorb more heat causing the temperature of the
atmosphere to increase
b. YouTube Video: What do the Mythbusters have to say about that?
c. So how does carbon dioxide get into the atmosphere
i. The primary reaction that forms carbon dioxide is oxidation, or burning
ii. The chemical formula is:
𝐶 + 𝑂2 → 𝐶𝑂2
d. Where does greenhouse gas come from?
i. Some greenhouse gas comes from natural sources (e.g. humans breathe out
carbon dioxide)
ii. Some comes from burning wood or biomass
iii. The vast majority comes from burning fossil fuels
iv. This is a problem because it takes carbon that was once in the ground and emits
it in the air
e. What are some of the effects of climate change?
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i. Global temperatures will rise
ii. Weather patterns will change
iii. Ice caps will melt
f. YouTube Video: What are some myths about Climate Change
d) Forming your own opinions
a. The following section will explain some of the scientific concepts that contribute.
Principles include:
i. Phase and Phase Change
ii. Ideal Gas Law
iii. Heat Capacity
b. The following calculation sheet will allow them to learn some simple mathematic
relations that can relate the concepts to real world scenarios
c. Following that, students will test calculations and theory using scientific experiments
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1.2: Key Scientific Concepts
a) Key Terms:
a. Temperature: A measure of how fast molecules around you are moving. The
higher the temperature, the more energy they have, and the faster those
molecules are moving. Measured using a thermometer. Units include degrees
Farenheit, degrees Celsius and Kelvins.
b. Pressure: The force of all of the molecules on the walls of a container. The
higher the force, the greater the pressure. Measured using a gauge. Units
include atmospheres, Pascals and mmHg.
c. Volume: The size of the container. Measured in length3. Units include cm3, in3
and Liters.
d. Heat Capacity: The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of an
object or substance one degree (Celsius)
e. Ideal Gas: A gas that follows the ideal gas law. This assumes that the gas
molecules are spheres that bounce off each other without interacting.
f. Phase (solid, liquid or gas): A state of matter. Any material will be in either the
solid, liquid or gas phase under normal conditions. (examples, at room
temperature/pressure: oxygen-gas, water-liquid, gold-solid).
g. Phase Change: The transition between a solid, liquid and gas. This can be
depicted on an phase diagram (see below)
b) Ideal Gas Law:
a. The ideal gas law governs how gases (also known as vapors interact)
b. Before applying the ideal gas law, need to know two concepts:
i. Kelvins are the absolute temperature scale
1. T (kelvins)= T (Celsius) + 273.15
ii. Moles are an amount of substance. It may be a different amount of a
substance based on what atoms it is composed of. You can convert
between the weight of a substance and the number of moles of an
element using the molar mass (in grams/mole)
c. It all boils down to one simple equation, also known as the ideal gas law. You
may have heard of it: PV=nRT
i. P = Pressure [=] atmospheres
ii. V = Volume [=] Liters
iii. n = amount of substance [=] moles
iv. T = Temperature [=] Kelvins
v. R = Ideal Gas Constant = .008214 (L*atm/(mol*K))
d. The ideal gas law relates the pressure, temperature, volume and amount of a
gas there is.
e. Example: If the container is closed and rigid (won’t change volume or amount of
gas): if temperature increases, the pressure increases; If the temperature
decreases, the pressure decreases
c) Heat Capacity
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a. Heat capacity is a measure of the temperature change of a substance upon
heating
b. Energy can be measured and generated in different ways (heat, friction,
electricity)
i. The units of energy are Joules
c. Heat capacity is measured in Joules/Kelvin
d. The amount of heat that a substance can absorb is proportional to the types
and number of chemical bonds. Typically, the more bonds, the higher the heat
capacity
e. So CO2, which has two chemical bonds would have a higher heat capacity than
N2 which only has one. Some common
Gas
Ar
He
CO
H2
HCl
N2
NO
O2
Cl2
CO2
CS2
H2S
N2O
SO2
Constant Volume
Heat Capacity
cV=(J/K)
12.5
12.5
20.7
20.4
21.4
20.6
20.9
21.1
24.8
28.2
40.9
25.4
28.5
31.3
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tables/heatcap.html
d) Phase and Phase Change
a. A substance will occupy a phase based on its temperature and pressure
b. A gas will take the shape and volume of the container, a liquid has a fixed
volume that will take the shape of the container, and a solid has a fixed volume
and shape.
c. Below is a phase diagram, which will tell you what phase a material will be in at
a known temperature and pressure
d. Changing that temperature and pressure may induce a ‘phase change’
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http://chemistry.tutorvista.com/physical-chemistry/phase-diagram.html
e) Questions for Understanding:
a. What are temperature, pressure and volume of a gas? How can they be related?
b. What is the ideal gas law?
c. What is heat capacity? What are some factors that determine how high the heat
capacity is?
d. What is the difference between a solid, liquid and gas?
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1.3 Let’s Do Some Math
Problem: How many grams of CO2 are released in a typical bus ride to school?
Assumptions:
–
How far does the bus need to drive to school? (This key assumes 5 miles)
–
A school bus burns diesel, and gets about 10 mpg (per Yahoo Answers)
–
All the fuel is burned and turns into CO2 (some is partially burned to form CO)
–
School bus fuel economy: ~10 mi/gal
–
Weight % Carbon in diesel fuel: 84.86 %
–
Diesel fuel Density: ~0.832 kg/l= 3.14 kg/gal
–
Weight % Carbon in CO2 =27.7 %
Given:
Calculations:
5𝑚𝑖
10𝑚𝑖
𝑔𝑎𝑙
= .5 𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑
3.14𝑘𝑔
. 5 𝑔𝑎𝑙 ∗ (
) = 1.57 𝑘𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑
𝑔𝑎𝑙
84.86%
1.57 𝑘𝑔 ∗ (
) = 1.33 𝑘𝑔 𝐶 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑
100
1.33𝑘𝑔
∗ 100 = 4.88𝑘𝑔 𝐶𝑂2 𝑝𝑒𝑟 5 𝑚𝑖
27.27%
Or .976 kg CO2 emitted per mile
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CO-two-School Worksheet
Problem: How many grams of CO2 are released in a typical bus ride to school?
Assumptions:
–
How far does the bus need to drive to school?
–
Your bus burns diesel, and gets about 10 mpg (per Yahoo Answers)
–
All the fuel is burned and turns into CO2 (some is partially burned to form CO)
–
School bus fuel economy: ~10 mi/gal
–
Weight % Carbon in diesel fuel: 84.86 %
–
Diesel fuel Density: ~0.832 kg/l= 3.14 kg/gal
–
Weight % Carbon in CO2 =27.7 %
Given:
Calculations:
A) Assuming a school bus gets 10 miles per gallon, how many gallons of diesel gasoline would
driving 5 miles consume?
B) What mass (in kilograms) of gasoline is that? The density of diesel gasoline is 3.14 kg/gal.
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C) What mass (in kilograms) of carbon is that? Diesel fuel is typically 84.86 weight percent carbon.
D) What is the weight of CO2 that would be emitted assuming all the fuel was completely burned
(to form CO2)? CO2 is 27.3 weight percent carbon.
E) How much CO2 is that per mile driven?
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2.0 Demonstration Instructions: CO two school
Before starting, make sure that you and your students have reviewed the math worksheet. The numbers
calculated there will be used in the demonstration.
Materials:
 Balloons (any size, the larger the better. A good place to find free large balloons are car
dealerships). Number Required: 55 (at least one per student)
 Dry Ice (may be purchased at local super market) Amount Required: at least 4 pounds
 Thermometer (with long neck) Number Required: at least 2
 Water
 Scale (min. 1 kg)
 Insulated gloves
 Tongs
Procedure:
 Distribute balloons amongst students. Ask them to stretch them out by blowing them up, but
deflating rather than tying it off
 Warn students that balloons may pop when pressure builds, so there may be a loud noise
 Weigh the correct amount of dry ice calculated in previous section. Weigh enough for each
student to have 3-4 pieces. Adjust the number of miles to fit desired amount. DO NOT TOUCH
DRY ICE WITH BARE HANDS. It is cold and will cause frostbite, wear insulated gloves and use
tongs
 Fill each balloon with approximately 2 tablespoons of water. Accuracy is not important, water is
used to increase heat transfer to the dry ice
 Once correct amount is weighed out, use tongs to place a few pieces of dry ice in each balloon.
Tie off quickly (students may need to help doing this)
 Allow balloons to expand to full volume. All the dry ice may not sublimate so beware of cold
spots
 Once all the balloons have inflated, place them in a pile and remind students:
o This is the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by one bus on one trip to school
o A school bus drives to and from school each day
 There are approximately 400,000 school busses that operate daily in the U.S.
 How many balloons is that per day? Per week? Per school year?
 School buses are efficient compared to cars (more people moved per gallon of
gas consumed)
 There are around 130 million daily commuters in the U.S. (ridetowork.org)
 This is multiplied by approximately 250 working days per year
 That’s a lot of CO2!
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Supplemental Activity:
 Have a student blow up a balloon with their lungs to about the same volume as the CO2 balloons
(choose one about ¾ full)
 Hold both balloons an equal distance from a heat source (Radiator, incandescent light),
CAREFUL, HEATED BALLOONS MAY POP
 Stick a different thermometer into each balloon and measure the temperature along a time
interval (e.g. every 30 seconds)
 Have students plot the heating rate as a function of time using a computer program like
Microsoft Excel
 Which balloon heated faster? Which balloon reached a higher final temperature?
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3.0 Post Lesson Discussion:
 Now we’ve seen the scope of the problem
 Ask students, what can be done about it?
o Natural gas offers a short term solution (CH4 is more energy dense than oil, but has it’s
own environmental problems)
o Biomass offers a good opportunity– plants intake CO2 over their lifetime, and when they
are burned that CO2 is put back into the atmosphere creating a carbon neutral cycle
o Carbon sequestration techniques (such as burying the CO2) offer some expensive
answers
 Someone in the students’ generation will need to come up with the answer, maybe someone
sitting in this classroom
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3.0 Sample PowerPoint Slides
Slide 1
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Balloon Or Bust
Exploring Climate Change and
Greenhouse Gas
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Slide 2
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You’ve heard a lot about climate change:
- It’s changing weather patterns
- The ice caps are melting
- Seasons are becoming more extreme
- The sea level is rising
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But what causes that? Is it true?
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Slide 3
The Greenhouse Effect
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Slide 4
Why is it called the Greenhouse Effect?
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http://www.natureeducation.org/greenhouse-gas.html
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Slide 5
What do the Mythbusters say about
it?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPRd5GT0v0I
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Slide 6
What are greenhouse gasses?
- CO2 accounts for 77%
of greenhouse gasses
- 57% of that CO2
comes from man
made sources,
especially energy
generation
- There are natural
sources of greenhouse
gasses (e.g. volcanos
erupting)
- Water is also
considered a
greenhouse gas (not
pictured here)
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www.epa.gov
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Slide 7
How do Greenhouse gasses get into
the environment?
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http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissi
ons/global.html
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Slide 8
Is it getting better?
• The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is actually
increasing!
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http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissi
ons/global.html
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Slide 9
Correlation to world population
growth:
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Slide 10
Who’s responsible for Greenhouse Gas
Emissions?
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http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/images/gh
gemissions/GlobalGHGEmissionsByCountry.pn
g
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Slide 11
How are Greenhouse Gasses affecting
the environment
Funny… looks like another graph I saw…
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http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2002/
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Slide 12
So what’s happening to
the environment?
• Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This
includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and
Greenland, and Arctic sea ice.
• Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie
penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from
32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.
• Sea level rise became faster over the last century.
• Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north
or to higher, cooler areas.
• Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on
average.
• Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of
warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of
spruce trees.
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http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/e
nvironment/global-warming/gw-effects/
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Slide 13
What will happen if we let it continue?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 centimeters)
by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between
4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters).
Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger.
Species that depend on one another may become out of sync. For example, plants
could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active.
Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where
droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years.
Less fresh water will be available. If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to
melt at its current rate, it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who
rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either.
Some diseases will spread, such as malaria carried by mosquitoes.
Ecosystems will change—some species will move farther north or become more
successful; others won’t be able to move and could become extinct. Wildlife
research scientist Martyn Obbard has found that since the mid-1980s, with less ice
on which to live and fish for food, polar bears have gotten considerably
skinnier. Polar bear biologist Ian Stirling has found a similar pattern in Hudson
Bay. He fears that if sea ice disappears, the polar bears will as well.
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http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/e
nvironment/global-warming/gw-effects/
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Slide 14
Political Controversy?
• A poll of 1000s of scientific papers on climate
change found “97% endorsed the… position
that humans are causing global warming”
(IOPscience)
• So what’s the problem?
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Slide 15
What are some of the Myths about
Climate Change?
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http://youtu.be/OWXoRSIxyIU
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Slide 16
Let’s do some math!!
• Goal: To calculate how much CO2 your bus
put into the atmosphere on the way to school
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• First we need to make some assumptions:
– How far does the bus need to drive to school?
– Assume your bus burns diesel, and gets about 10
mpg*
– All the fuel is burned and turns into CO2
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*https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?q
id=20130725055457AAVzUO7
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Slide 17
Diesel Fuel Numbers
•
•
•
•
School bus fuel economy: ~10 mi/gal
Carbon weight percent: 84.86%
Diesel fuel Density: ~0.832 kg/l= 3.14 kg/gal
Weight % Carbon in CO2 =27.7%
• So if your school bus drives 5 miles to school
(conservative estimate), how many kilograms
of CO2 does your bus emit
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Slide 18
Calculation
5𝑚𝑖
10𝑚𝑖 = .5 𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑
𝑔𝑎𝑙
3.14𝑘𝑔
. 5 𝑔𝑎𝑙 ∗
= 1.57 𝑘𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑
𝑔𝑎𝑙
1.57 𝑘𝑔 ∗ .8486 = 1.33 𝑘𝑔 𝐶 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑
1.33𝑘𝑔
= 4.88𝑘𝑔 𝐶𝑂2
.2727
Or .976 kg CO2 emitted per mile
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Slide 19
So how much is that really?
• Well, dry ice is solid CO2, let’s see how much
that is in a balloon
• Now multiply that by:
– All the busses at your school
– All the busses in the US (480,000)
– Add all the people driving to work every day on
top of that (cars get better gas mileage, but are
less efficient… why?)
THAT’S A LOT!
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Slide 20
So what can we do about it?
• Fossil fuels are the source of most of the CO2 in
the atmosphere
– Natural gas offers a short term solution (CH4 is more
energy dense than oil, but has it’s own environmental
problems)
– Biomass offers a good opportunity– plants intake CO2
over their lifetime, and when they are burned that
CO2 is put back into the atmosphere creating a carbon
neutral cycle
– Carbon sequestration techniques (such as burying the
CO2) offer some expensive answers
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Slide 21
End Goal
• We need to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas in
the atmosphere
• Technology offers some solutions, but change needs to
happen rapidly on both a political and social front
– Largest climate change rally ever held last week in NY
– UN summit on climate change gained a lot of attention last
week as well
– The Rockefeller trust fund is divesting completely from
non-renewable energy funds
• We need to be more cognizant of how our actions will
impact the world around us!
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Slide 22
If you want more…
“Years of Living Dangerously” on Showtime,
available for download
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