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Ocean Acidification ActivityOcean Acidification Activity
Publisher
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Resource Details
Curator Rating
Educator Rating
Not yet Rated
Grade
6th - 12th
Subjects
Science
4 more...
Resource Type
Activities & Projects
Audience
For Teacher Use
Duration
1 hr
Instructional Strategies
Collaborative Learning
5 more...
Technology
Scientific Equipment
Year
2016
Usage Permissions
Fine Print: Educational Use
Activity

Ocean Acidification

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Ocean Acidification activity also includes:
  • Student Handout
  • Poster
  • pH vs CO2 graphs
  • Keeling Curve
  • Join to access all included materials

Human impacts on the environment can sometimes be difficult to measure, especially under water! An activity centered on ocean acidification gives science scholars the opportunity to examine the effects of carbon dioxide on marine life. Working pairs view a demonstration, analyze and interpret data, then make predictions using their findings.

75 Views 55 Downloads

Concepts

ocean habitats, carbon dioxide, human impact on the environment, fossil fuels, greenhouse gases, marine ecosystems, marine life, coral reefs, mollusks, calcium carbonate, exoskeletons, ph, acids and bases, food webs, solutions, solution concentration

Additional Tags

science

Instructional Ideas

  • Add the activity to a marine ecosystems unit for an impactful look at the effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide on animal species and habitats
  • Incorporate some scientific reading with an article about acidification in the Great Barrier Reef

Classroom Considerations

  • Set up the seawater tank in advance of the lesson to ensure the solution is well-mixed and circulating; you will need an aquarium tank and pump to accomplish this
  • Laminate posters and graphs, then have pupils place the colored stickers on them

Pros

  • The seawater demonstration is very effective in illustrating the effects of added carbon dioxide on Earth's oceans
  • Teacher's guide contains helpful tips for planning, as well as all of the necessary printables

Cons

  • None

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Lesson Plan

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Lesson Plan

Carbon Through the Seasons

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Meteorologists view an animated video by the Environmental Protection Agency to learn how the carbon cycle works, and then move into groups to analyze and graph actual data of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from Hawaii's...
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Activity

Carbon - The Short and the Long

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For this complex game about the carbon cycle, the playing field is divided into air, living, and earth zones. Children are assigned to be either plants or animals, and collect carbon tokens as they proceed from zone to zone. While the...
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Lesson Plan

Can Carbon Dioxide Act Like a Greenhouse Gas?

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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...
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Lesson Plan

Carbon Sinks and Sources

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Earth or environmental science pupils are assigned to be carbon sources or sinks. They ask yes-or-no questions to try to figure out which one they are. Then they discuss ways people can have positive effects on the changing climate by...
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Lesson Plan

It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's...CARBON!

National Wildlife Federation
An interesting instructional activity takes pupils on a trip through the carbon cycle. A reading passage allows scholars to take notes and make choices about what happens to the carbon on its journey. This third instructional...
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Lesson Plan

Ocean Acidification

Carnegie Mellon University
After brainstorming what they know about ocean acidification, youngsters place eggs in acid to determine the effects on calcium-containing organisms, and add carbon dioxide to solutions with sea shell material to discover the impact on...
9th - 12th Science
Lesson Plan

Changing Planet: Ocean Acidification - the Chemistry is Less than Basic!

Curated OER
A video and laboratory investigation are highlights to this lesson on acidification of ocean water due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Using bromothymol blue (BTB) as an indicator, pupils analyze the amount of carbon dioxide...
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Instructional Video

Earth : Keeping Up With Carbon

Curated OER
Carbon is a key element in life on Earth. Where can it be found? Hear all about carbon's whereabouts and how it is used. Climate change is brought up along with human responsibility. This clip is great for a junior high or high school...
6 mins 7th - 12th Science
Handout

Encyclopedia of Earth: Environmental Chemistry: Carbon Cycle

Encyclopedia of Earth
Article explaining the importance of carbon as the basis for life, carbon dioxide's role in photosynthesis and respiration, carbon in the ocean and lithosphere, the impact of human activities on the carbon cycle, carbon that seems to be...
9th - 10th Science
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