Using a systems dynamics approach, students will work in groups to conceptualize and construct a model of the global carbon cycle considering five major Earth systems: atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere. The models will draw on information from the pre-class activity and invoke system features such as boundaries, stocks, flows, and control variables. Using a scenario describing a global, catastrophic event, the students will consider how new conditions change the behavior of carbon cycling in their model world. Students will use the model to explain changes in environmental variables such as permafrost cover, atmospheric gases, and global temperature, as well as feedbacks within the system.
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- Subject:
- Biology
- Career and Technical Education
- Education
- Environmental Studies
- Life Science
- Material Type:
- Activity/Lab
- Module
- Provider:
- Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
- Provider Set:
- Teach the Earth
- Author:
- Cailin Huyck Orr
- Camille Holmgren
- LeeAnna Chapman
- Rebecca Teed
- Sam Donovan
- Date Added:
- 09/25/2022
