Diagram showing the Carbon Cycle; how it cycles through the soil, organisms, the air, and back to the soil.

This resource is part of all Climate Kids Traveling Trunks

The Incredible Carbon Journey

Overview

As a class, students will create a model of the Carbon Cycle. Students will then play the game “The Incredible Carbon Journey” to understand how the burning of fossil fuels has changed the carbon cycle causing human-induced climate change.

Activity Type:

Lesson

Target Grade Level:

3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Estimated Duration:

Varies

Topics:

Climate 101

Possible Connections to NGSS

Performance Expectations

5-ESS2-1: Develop a model using an example to describe a scientific principle, and the ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

5-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.

5-LS2-1: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

MS-ESS3-5: Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

HS-ESS2-6: Earth's Systems: Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.