This video/animation asks the question So if the same molecules are in the solid, liquid, and vapor forms of water, why are their properties so different? The properties of a material are affected not just by the kinds of atom in it, but also by how they are arranged, and how free they are to move around. Forms of carbon are introduced, from graphite to buckyballs.

In this hands-on OLogy activity, kids learn about matter by building their own models of carbon out of pipe cleaners, wire, and clay. The activity begins with a kid-friendly introduction to matter, elements, and atoms. The illustrated, step-by-step directions show kids how to use the information about carbon on the Periodic Table to create a mobile that shows the element's basic structure. A PDF version of the Periodic Table, along with a kid-friendly overview of how to read it, is also included.

An introduction to Buckminsterfullerenes: Their history and discovery, their unique chemical and physical properties, methods in fullerene production, and the many possible uses of "buckyballs" that may be seen in the near future.

Through a reading, demonstration stations, and completion of a puzzle, students will recognize how respiration and photosynthesis move carbon through the earth system, how fossil fuels were formed, and how human activities have altered this movement on a global scale.

Students will know some of the general properties of oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor

In this media-rich essay from the NOVA Web site, learn about the atomic structure of radioactive carbon and how it can be used to determine the age of organic remains, such as bones and teeth.

Students learn about the periodic table and how pervasive the elements are in our daily lives. After reviewing the table organization and facts about the first 20 elements, they play an element identification game. They also learn that engineers incorporate these elements into the design of new products and processes. Acting as computer and animation engineers, students creatively express their new knowledge by creating a superhero character based on of the elements they now know so well.

This page explains the formation of Acetyl Co-enzyme A which is key to the synthesis of many organic molecules in cells. An acetyl group is a simple two-carbon-atom molecule which is sufficiently reactive to make it possible to use as a building block for larger carbon skeletons.

A large number of molecules that are synthesised in cells are built from two-carbon acetyl groups. An acetyl group derives from ethanoate (acetate) and is named acetyl when it forms a group within a larger molecule. Instead of using free acetate molecules the cell 'activates' the molecule by attaching it to Coenzyme A (CoA).

The acetyl group can derive from pyruvate (and ultimately from monosaccharides if that is the main 'food' for the cell). The two processes of oxidising/decarboxylating pyruvate and attaching the resulting acetyl group to CoA are coupled.

Oxidative decarboxylation is catalyzed by the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. It is a multimeric assembly of three kinds of enzyme that implements the process in four steps. The animation shows all four steps in sequence and data sheets follow.

This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE demonstrates the physical property of carbon dioxide that causes the greenhouse effect.

Students learn about energy and nutrient flow in various biosphere climates and environments. They learn about herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, food chains and food webs, seeing the interdependence between producers, consumers and decomposers. Students are introduced to the roles of the hydrologic (water), carbon, and nitrogen cycles in sustaining the worlds' ecosystems so living organisms survive. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

This video segment adapted from NOVA illustrates why carbon is at the center of life on Earth. It also asks whether carbon-based life might exist on other planets.

" This course is an introduction to chemical oceanography. It describes reservoir models and residence time, major ion composition of seawater, inputs to and outputs from the ocean via rivers, the atmosphere, and the sea floor. Biogeochemical cycling within the oceanic water column and sediments, emphasizing the roles played by the formation, transport, and alteration of oceanic particles and the effects that these processes have on seawater composition. Cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulfur. Uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide by the ocean. Material presented through lectures and student-led presentation and discussion of recent papers."

The Natural Inquirer Climate Change series article Balancing Act explores the relationship between urban trees and the carbon cycle.

What are urban forests? Urban forests are the trees and other plants that grow where people live, go to school, work, and play. Even if you live in a rural community, the trees in your yard, around buildings, and in parks are called urban forests. Calling them urban forests helps you to see that they are different from the kind of forests that grow in large undeveloped areas. Urban forests include trees in community parks and other public land, along streets, in neighborhoods, around businesses and industry, and just about everywhere in a community. You will find urban forests almost anywhere that you find people living, going to school, working, and playing. Urban forests provide many benefits to people and their communities.  Some examples of benefits include reducing noise and soil erosion and providing homes for animals.  To fins out more about urban forest and their benefits, read this Natural Inquirer!

The Natural Inquirer's FACELook monograph explores the relationship between carbon, photosynthesis, and roots of trees.

This Web site, created to complement an American Museum of Natural History exhibition, looks at how diamonds are created (naturally and synthetically), and how they have been used throughout history.

The "New Climate Deal - A Pocket Guide" is a a handy all-in-one pocket guide to climate change, its impacts, the politics, the history, and the discussions at the UNFCCC negotiation process held in Copenhagen, Denmark December 2009.

While this guide was developed for Copenhagen it is stilll relevant for the next steps in our journey to secure a strong, fair and ambitious climate change agreement.

Published in May 2009 by WWF–World Wide Fund For
Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund), Gland, Switzerland. Any reproduction in full or in part of this publication must mention the title and credit the above-mentioned publisher as the copyright owner.
© text and graphics: 2009 WWF All rights reserved

How can we translate real-world challenges into future business opportunities? How can individuals, organizations, and society learn and undergo change at the pace needed to stave off worsening problems? Today, organizations of all kinds--traditional manufacturing firms, those that extract resources, a huge variety of new start-ups, services, non-profits, and governmental organizations of all types, among many others--are tackling these very questions. For some, the massive challenges of moving towards sustainability offer real opportunities for new products and services, for reinventing old ones, or for solving problems in new ways. The course aims to provide participants with access and in-depth exposure to firms that are actively grappling with the sustainability-related issues through cases, readings and guest speakers.

By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth, and growth means successful use of ambient carbon. Until now, scientists have only had a continuous record of photosynthesis on land. But following three years of continual data collected by the SeaWiFS instrument, NASA has gathered the first record of photosynthetic productivity in the oceans. By taking three years of continuous data as a whole, experts have been able to map trends and anomalies in the global circulation of carbon to a degree of detail than has never been done before. It is a baseline measurement to by which all future measurements will be compared.