Topic(s): Greenhouse Effect, Global Energy Balance, Climate Feedbacks, Carbon Cycle, Greenhouse Gases
Grade Level: High School (9-12)
Students explore the carbon cycle and the relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature. Students create and compare graphs of carbon dioxide and temperature data from one local (Mauna Loa, Hawaii) meteorological station and one NASA global data set. These graphs, as well as a global vegetation map and an atmospheric wind circulation patterns diagram, are used as evidence to support the scientific claims they develop through their analysis and interpretation.