Solving the Carbon Dioxide Problem

Melissa Rummel, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Center for Science Education

Students use information from Project Drawdown to learn about the sectors where climate solutions are being implemented to help slow down climate warming. Students construct a plan for using specific solutions to reduce and remove the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and make a claim describing how their plan could work to keep global temperature change below 1.5 ÂC.

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Notes from our reviewers

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Educators can expect roughly a 20min preparation time with a complete and thoughtful teaching guide. Educators should print the materials ahead of time. There is a fair amount of reading involved in Part 1, so it would be good to allow adequate reading time and/or have groups jig-saw together readings by dividing readings into small sections where each person is responsible for one, then having each student present their part of the reading to their group. Plan for student grouping arrangements in advance. In Part 1, six groups of students are needed; each group will focus on analyzing a different sector. In Part 2, it might be best to create new groups that contain one student from each of the sector groups from Part 1.
This activity focuses on the implementation of climate solutions and requires students to construct a plan to reduce and remove the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The activity asks students to engage in quantitative modeling to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. The activity relies on data from Project Drawdown and provides external links as references to the Project Drawdown data. The activity provides graphs that reference the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Global Carbon Project, NOAA Climate.gov, and others, which are accurate and up-to-date sources of information. Comments from expert scientist: UCAR / NCAR is a reputable data and information source. This resource includes references to IPCC 2018 Report and NOAA Climate data. All conceptual information provided appears correct and relevant. Most numerical data provided is cited and appears up to date. Because this resource is dependent on the 2018 IPCC, most of the numbers provided may become out of date with updated reports. The Project Drawdown website does not provide in text citations, but the information appears correct and relevant (and overall a very user friendly platform).
This is a well designed inquiry-based lesson where students get to research climate change mitigation strategies and develop a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that they will then present to the class. An understanding of the carbon cycle and the role of carbon dioxide emissions in climate change would be helpful. A discussion on these topics would be good to have in a prior lesson or at the start of this activity. There is a fair amount of reading involved, which could be challenging for some diverse learners and ESL students. The activity is engaging for students and requires critical thinking and creativity. Students will work individually and in groups during this activity. Learning outcomes are clearly stated, as well as noting which Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core Standards the activity applies to. This is a high-quality, well-organized activity, that uses a combination of scientific websites, diagrams, PDF guides, and charts for students to use during the activity. A discussion is used at the end of the activity to assess students, and to encourage them to share out their findings.