Carbon Dioxide Heats It Up

Can your breath change the acidity in a liquid? A lesson begins with a demonstration that proves it can. Then scholars perform an experiment to determine if other gases can change the pH of liquids. Finally, they research how this...

After investigating the US Environmental Protection Agency's climate change website, your environmental studies learners discuss greenhouse gas emissions. They use an online interactive tool to look at data from power production...

Ninety-seven percent of scientists who study climate agree that human activity is warming the planet. Learners explore carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, a gas causing this warming, through a hands-on experiment. Once complete, they...

Why does soda fizz when opened? Learners discuss the appearance of bubbles in soda bottles when opened. In groups, they design and complete an experiment comparing the amount of carbon dioxide dissolving in cold versus hot liquids.  

The Kyoto Protocol—meant to reduce emissions—was first introduced in 1997 and now involves 192 nations, but the United States is not one of them. Through an analysis of energy use by sectors, groups discuss where and who is emitting the...

Heat things up in your physical science class with this interactive lesson series on thermodynamics. Through a series of class demonstrations and experiments, young scientists learn how heat is transferred through conduction, convention,...

Polar ice samples provide scientists with valuable information about the condition of the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years in the past. Of particular interest is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its...

Watt is going on here? Middle schoolers are learning about energy use and carbon dioxide emissions! In the first part of this lesson, learners measure how much energy different appliances consume and calculate the amount per day. In the...

Split your earth science or environmental studies class into groups and give each a scenario card. Scenario cards describe the lifestyles of 10 different fictitious families, focusing on their energy usage. Carbon dioxide emissions are...

Why don't we just capture carbon dioxide in the air and store it somewhere else? A hands-on lesson allows scholars to explore a complex concept. First, they will create a carbonated beverage, and then they will determine if liquid...