Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, U.S. Department of Energy
This short activity provides a way to improve understanding of a frequently-published diagram of global carbon pools and fluxes. Students create a scaled 3-D visual of carbon reservoirs and the movement of carbon between reservoirs.
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This activity could be embedded in a unit on climate change or the carbon cycle and can be used to help students understand the concept of gigatons of carbon moving between reservoirs.
Short activity illustrates the relative amounts of carbon stored in various reservoirs and the extent and direction of flux between them.
Comments from expert scientist: This resource provides a novel way to visualize the carbon cycle. The relative amounts of carbon in the different Earth system components are readily apparent. This resource requires students to question information supplied to them, which is an essential skill for scientists. Students will learn about the many processes through which carbon is transferred.
This activity provides a visualization of a difficult carbon cycle concept to grasp - that of amounts of carbon moving between reservoirs.
Carbon cycle diagrams showing reservoirs and gigatons are often overwhelming for students. This activity will help students understand the concepts of reservoirs, gigatons, and fluxes.
Modeling activity is good, but what students make of the model is up to the teacher. No discussion questions are provided, so the teacher will have to design a way to wrap up this activity.
Easy to use. Good quality materials.
