ASTROVENTURE
Extend Lesson Concept Activities
Extend Lesson Concept: Carbon dioxide and water vapor are greenhouse gases that
absorb energy radiated from Earth’s surface and release some of it back towards the
Earth, increasing the surface temperature.
Activity 1
Investigation: What is the relationship between light and heat?
Students gather around where teacher has light sources. Students will use the light to heat
their hands and try to transfer that heat to their cheeks with out touching their faces.
1. What will happen to your hand if you shine a strong light source on it for a while?
Could the heat from the lamp be transferred to your hand even if your hand didn’t touch
the lamp? Could the heat from your hand be transferred to your cheek without touching
your cheek?
2. Students write their hypotheses in their notebooks. Then they test their hypotheses
with the light source and record their observations.*
3. Make connections: How is this like the Sun and the Earth? (Think of the lamp as the
Sun and your hand as the Earth.) What happens when the heat from the Sun reaches the
Earth?
4. Teach Academic vocabulary: radiation, visible photon, infrared photon.
*The students predicted that their hands would heat up enough to radiate the heat
to their cheeks, but it didn’t work. This opened up a great discussion about what would
work and ideas for science experiments.
ASTROVENTURE
Extend Lesson Concept Activities
Name________________
Activity 2
Investigating Light, Heat, and Greenhouse Gases
We have learned about the different gases in our atmosphere and why they are
essential for life on Earth. Today you will investigate how the light (visible photons)
from the Sun heat the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. You will also predict which
gases absorb heat (infrared photons) and be able to test out your hypotheses.
Which of the following gases in our atmosphere affect the Earth’s temperature?
H2O
CO2
CH4
N2
O2
I predict _______________________________ will affect the Earth’s temperature.
I predict _______________________________ won’t affect the Earth’s temperature.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Go to http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/greenhouse
Click the Photon Absorption page.
Choose one of the atmospheric gases (H2O, CO2, CH4, N2, or O2 ) to test.
Click the visible photon button, press play, and adjust the rate of the photons.
Record your observation in your science journal.
Change the change the photon button to infrared photon and record your
observation.
7. Click another gas and see what happens. Continue with the other gases, recording
your observations.
8. What did you discover? Which gases blocked the visible photons? Which gases
responded to the infrared photons (heat) and which did not?
9. Based on what you have observed, which gases in the Earth’s atmosphere affect
the Earth’s temperature?
10. Next click the Build Atmosphere. Build atmospheres with different compositions.
Record your observations.
11. What did you discover? What happens to the infrared photons?
ASTROVENTURE
Extend Lesson Concept Activities
Activity 3
1. Click the Glass Layers page.
2. Select Thermometer under Options and click play. Observe the visible photons
and the infrared photons with zero Glass Panes. Record the temperature in a chart.
3. Predict what will happen to the temperature if you put a “glass pane” above the
Earth. Remember that your hypothesis should also have a reason.
4. Investigate Glass Panes by adding one pane.
5. Record your observations about how a glass pane affects the heat and record the
temperature. Include a drawing in your notebook
6. Predict what adding other glass panes would do. Test this out and record
observations and temperature.
Number of Glass Panes
0
1
2
3
Temperature
7. What is the relationship between the glass panes and the temperature?
What happening to the infrared photons/heat? Why?
8. Something to think about: If the Earth doesn’t really have glass panes over the
land to hold in the heat, how does it stay warm enough to be habitable?
ASTROVENTURE
Extend Lesson Concept Activities
Activity 4
If the Earth doesn’t really have glass panes over the land to hold in the heat, how does
it stay warm enough to be habitable?
1. Which gases in our atmosphere affect the Earth’s temperature? (Activity 2)
2. What was the relationship between glass panes and the temperature? (Activity 3)
What are the effects of greenhouse gases on the Earth’s temperature?
1. Click on the Greenhouse Effect page.
2. Select the Atmosphere during the Ice Age and press play. While it is playing
record the Greenhouse Gas composition. (ppm means parts per million)
Greenhouse
Gas
H20
CO2
CH4
N2O
During the Ice
Age
1750
Today
3. Record temperature in a chart and record your observation in your notebook.
Time
Temperatureno Clouds
Temperatureone cloud
Temperaturetwo clouds
Temperaturethree clouds
Ice Age
1750
Today
4. Predict what will happen when you add a cloud.
5. Watch what happens to the infrared photons when you add a cloud and record
temperature. Continue exploring what happens with clouds.
6. Go on to the other dates. Record temperatures and the Greenhouse Gas
composition.
7. What do you notice? What trend do you observe? Why is this happening?
8. How are the greenhouse gases like the glass panes in Activity 3?
9. Scientists predict CO2 levels to increase to 490 – 1260 ppm by the end of the
century. Run a simulation that will help you predict how this change will affect
temperature. What do you find?
ASTROVENTURE
Extend Lesson Concept Activities
Activity 5
How does the temperature of a planet with greenhouse gases compare to one without
greenhouse gases?
We will make a model of how greenhouse gases work. We will have a glass jar that is a
model of a planet without greenhouse gases, and one that is a model of a planet with
greenhouse gases. Be thinking about the parts of the experiment and what each part is
supposed to represent.
As we conduct our experiment, we need to see how plastic wrap behaves differently than
greenhouse gases. Think about how plastic wrap is like greenhouse gases and how it is
different from greenhouse gases.
Stress the importance of making sure that both models are exactly the same except for the
“variable” we are focusing on. The variable is the greenhouse gases symbolized by the
plastic wrap.
Greenhouse Modeling Activity.
1. Cover the bottom of two terrariums or glass jars with 2 to 3 centimeters of dark soil.
2. Place a thermometer probe inside each terrarium.
3. Lightly dampen the soil with water.
4. Cover one glass jar with plastic wrap.
5. Put a lamp approximately 25 centimeters above the center of the top of each jar.
6. Record the temperature of the thermometers on the data charts.
7. Record the temperature of each jar every minute for 15 minutes.
8. Turn the light off and record the data on your data table every minute for 15 minutes.
9. Graph both sets of data.
10. Based on the data from the experiment, how will the temperature of a planet with
greenhouse gases compare to one without? Why did this happen? What does this tell you
about how greenhouse gases affect temperature? What are the greenhouse gases on our
planet? Why are they important to our planet?
ASTROVENTURE
Extend Lesson Concept Activities
Some videos on Greenhouse effect
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIdUkVhBS4s Bill Scientific Greenhouse Effect
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/stuff-happens-online-clips-wheres-the-beef.html
Bill Nye’s how cows’ methane increases the greenhouse effect