Goals:

To attain an understanding of the greenhouse effect.

To compare the Earth's climate to the climate on Venus.

To perform an experiment simulating the greenhouse effect.

Content Areas:

Science - climate, greenhouse effect, gases

Math - graphing, temperature measurements

Materials:

2 cardboard shoe boxes

Clear plastic wrap

2 thermometers

Desk light with 715 watt or larger bulb

Black paper

Graphing paper

Procedure: (1 hour 30 minutes)

1) Begin with a situation: Do you remember the last sunny day that you were in a car with the windows rolled up? It was really hot inside. Do you know why? When sunlight passes through the window, it is absorbed by the seat and other things in the car. Some of the energy is then radiated from the seat as heat. Since heat radiation cannot pass through glass, the temperature inside rises and it gets hot. How is this like a greenhouse?

2) The teacher should lead a group discussion, brainstorming a semantic web concerning the greenhouse effect. Discuss how a greenhouse works.

3) Explain how gaseous components in the atmosphere act to allow short wave radiation to penetrate to Earth, but block emitted long wave radiation trying to escape the atmosphere. The level to which the atmosphere is incorporated into this discussion depends upon time and intellectual level of the students.

4) Is the term "greenhouse effect" an accurate term? How does the process relate to an actual greenhouse?

5) Discuss how carbon dioxide is produced by humans. What are fossil fuels? How do they contribute carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?

6) Discuss the atmosphere of Venus; compare it to the atmosphere of the Earth.

7) How could the greenhouse effect be slowed or stopped?

8) Experiment: Make a Greenhouse.
 

a) The teacher should divide the class into groups of four students to work on answering questions for the experiment.

b) Place some paper towels loosely in the bottom of each shoe box. Then lay the thermometer on the towels.

c) Cover the open top of one box with plastic wrap, and tape it to the side of the box; leave the other box with the top off (open).

d) Place the boxes side by side and move the desk light so it shines evenly into both boxes.

e) Students groups should record the temperature in each box every minute for 10 minutes. Next, they should plot the temperature on a graph with time as the x (horizontal) axis and temperature as they (vertical) axis.

f) Replace the paper towels with black paper. Repeat the experiment. What differences do the students note?

Assessment:

Students should discuss the differences in the observed temperatures in the two boxes and attempt to explain why this is happening. Their group discussion will assess their levels of understanding. Criteria for success: Do the students participate in group discussion? (see Peer Evaluation of Group Work Rubric) Is the graph correct? Can student groups explain what they graphed and what it means?

Making Waves - written by Jennifer Cannistra, Jamie Hanna, Michael LeRoy, & Kim Mongoven

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