Travel Solutions to Global Warming

Topics:  Carbon Cycle, Carbon Dioxide Production, Transportation and Environmental Issues

Source:  Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, with funding from U.S. Department of Transportation and Mass Highway

Web Address:  http://www.nesea.org/education/edmaterials/edu_download.html, near the bottom of the page, under “Lesson Plans – Grades 5-7.”

Grade Levels:  5-7

Learning Strategies:  Demonstration; brainstorming; collect, graph and interpret data; hands-on, real-world application.

Frameworks Connections:

Science and Technology/Engineering

• Life Sciences, Grades 6-8

Energy and Living Things

Mathematics

• Number Sense and Operations, Grades 5-8

• Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability, Grades 5-8

Cost:  Free download

Description: This lesson plan requires one 45-minute class period plus a week outside of class to collect a small amount of data.  During this lesson, students view a burning candle experiment, review the relationship of the carbon cycle, fossil fuels, and atmospheric CO₂ levels.  Students also graph the relative populations and production of CO₂ in different countries and use a personal trip log to discover simple yet powerful solutions to reducing CO₂ levels.  The lesson plan contains objectives, time required for each activity, materials needed, background information, procedures, and handouts and worksheets. 

This guide would be a good supplement to a unit on global warming or climate change, as it identifies and studies (in depth) a common producer of CO₂.  Students learn that they can make a difference.