Examine this graph from FRONTLINE/NOVA: What's Up with the Weather? Web site to see dramatic increases in three greenhouse gases over the last two hundred years.

A car propelled by the reaction between lemon juice and baking soda has more in common with rockets and jet aircraft than one might think. In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, two cast members demonstrate the power of rocket-propelled vehicles and how to exploit the force produced by the carbon dioxide gas. Grades 3-8.

This is the second of four curriculum guides focusing on astrobiology and careers for grades 5-8. Students are confronted with the challenge of searching for and designing a planet that would be habitable to humans. Using an online, multimedia module, students change the amounts of gases in our atmosphere and draw conclusions about which factors are necessary for human survival. Students then engage in classroom activities that help them to form an understanding of atoms, elements, and molecules as the components of gases that have unique properties that makes each gas important to human survival. They further explore the process of chemical change, with a focus on some of the chemical reactions most important to human survival. In contrast, they learn how the inert gas, nitrogen, is important to human life by contributing to our surface pressure. Finally, they connect their learning to the systems they explored in Astronomy.

In this activity, students use a simple pH indicator to measure how much CO2 is produced during respiration, at rest and after exercising. They begin by comparing some common household solutions in order to determine the color change of the indicator. They review the concepts of pH and respiration and extend their knowledge to measuring the effectiveness of bioremediation in the environment.

An educational pathway on respiration, combustion and carbon dioxide.

In 2001, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft discovered significant amounts of water ice buried in the high latitude regions of Mars. This exciting discovery, based upon data from the Mars Gamma Ray Spectrometer, helped motivate the development of the Mars Phoenix Lander mission, which will arrive in the Martian arctic in 2008 to investigate this buried water ice. The product includes five classroom activities related to the discovery of water ice. These field-tested activities involve both guided and open inquiry activities using real data to investigate and learn about processes occurring on Mars. Each lesson includes a teacher guide and student guide. In addition, some of the lessons are accompanied by PowerPoint presentations and one extension activity utilizes an educational Flash animation.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, a scientist, inspired by his daughter's science fair project, develops a synthetic tree to remove excess carbon dioxide from the air.

In this interactive activity from NOVA scienceNOW, explore options for storing carbon dioxide in order to prevent further global warming.

Students are introduced to the concept of energy cycles by learning about the carbon cycle. They will learn how carbon atoms travel through the geological (ancient) carbon cycle and the biological/physical carbon cycle. Students will consider how human activities have disturbed the carbon cycle by emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They will discuss how engineers and scientists are working to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Lastly, students will consider how they can help the world through simple energy conservation measures.

This exercise introduces students to concepts of photosynthesis at the whole organism level and to computer utilization in biology. Changes in carbon dioxide concentration are measured in environmental chambers using gas analyzers connected to computers. Carbon dioxide changes are graphed in real time as the plants take up CO2. Over a short time, sunflower seedlings show dramatic changes in CO2 uptake when light intensity is altered or color filters are used. Comparison of the resulting graphs will indicate treatment differences in the rate of carbon dioxide change. Modifying the basic experimental design allows this exercise to be used in a variety of courses.

In this video adapted from the Arctic Athabaskan Council, learn how warmer temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the landscape, triggering a host of effects such as permafrost thawing and insect infestations.

This Museum of Paleontology web page discusses foraminifera (forams for short), which are shelled marine microorganisms. It includes what are forams, where they live, their significance (in relation to biostratigraphy, paleoecology, and oil exploration), and an image-rich section about foram classification.

Global change is a relatively new area of scientific study using research from many disciplines to determine how Earth systems change, and to assess the influence of human activity on these changes. The Global Change section of the Teaching Packet consists of an introduction and five activities. In teaching these activities, four themes are important: time, change, cycles, and Earth as home.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of air pollution and technologies that have been developed by engineers to reduce air pollution. Students develop an understanding of visible air pollutants with an incomplete combustion demonstration, a "smog in a jar" demonstration, construction of simple particulate matter collectors and by exploring engineering roles related to air pollution. Next, students develop awareness and understanding of the daily air quality and trends in air quality using the Air Quality Index (AQI) listed in the newspaper. Finally, students build and observe a variety of simple models in order to develop an understanding of how engineers use these technologies to clean up and prevent air pollution.

Students observe demonstrations, and build and evaluate simple models to understand the greenhouse effect and the role of increased greenhouse gas concentration in global warming.

This computer-assisted investigation allows students to explore the effect of variables on animal respiration using research-quality instrumentation. The model investigation is with a lizard (anole) exposed to a range of temperatures that are only moderately stressful and do no harm. The animal is contained in a transparent chamber with gas inlet and outlet ports and an electronic thermometer. Carbon dioxide-free air is pumped at a constant rate into the chamber. The outgoing air enriched in carbon dioxide passes in turn through an electronic oxygen sensor, a simple drying apparatus, and an electronic carbon dioxide sensor that measures concentration by absorption of infra-red light. Analog voltage signals from the sensors are electronically converted to digital with an interface device and displayed by computer software. Additional experimental questions students may ask and other animals students may use are suggested.

This illustration from Biology by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph Levine describes the steps of the Krebs cycle, the critical first stage in the process of cellular respiration.

Students observe demonstrations, and build and evaluate simple models to understand the greenhouse effect, the role of increased greenhouse gas concentration in global warming, and the implications of global warming theory for engineers, themselves and the Earth. In an associated literacy activity, students learn how a bill becomes law and research global warming legislation.

This unit covers the processes of photosynthesis, extinction, biomimicry and bioremediation. In the first lesson on photosynthesis, students learn how engineers use the natural process of photosynthesis as an exemplary model of a complex yet efficient process for converting solar energy to chemical energy or distributing water throughout a system. In the next lesson on species extinction, students learn that it is happening at an alarming rate. Students discover that the destruction of habitat is the main reason many species are threatened and how engineers are trying to stop this habitat destruction. The third lesson introduces students to the idea of biomimicry or looking to nature for engineering ideas. And, in the fourth and final lesson, students learn about a special branch of engineering called bioremediation the use of living organisms to aid in the clean up of pollutant spills.