Download The Carbon Cycle Game Objective: Students will model the

Environmental Science
The Carbon Cycle Game
Name ______________________________
Objective: Students will model the movement of carbon through different reservoirs. Students will relate the
processes of photosynthesis and respiration to biogeochemical cycling.
Engage: Carbon exists in the Earth's atmosphere primarily as the gas carbon dioxide. Although it is a very
small part of the atmosphere overall, making up only 0.04%, it plays an important role in supporting life.
The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged between the biosphere,
geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. The cycle is usually thought of as four major reservoirs
of carbon interconnected by pathways of exchange. The reservoirs are the atmosphere, the terrestrial
biosphere (which usually includes freshwater systems and non-living organic material, such as soil carbon), the
oceans (which includes dissolved carbon and marine organisms), and the sediments (which includes fossil
fuels). The movements of carbon between reservoirs occur because of various chemical, physical, geological,
and biological processes. The ocean contains the largest active pool of carbon near the surface of the Earth,
but the deep ocean part of this pool does not rapidly exchange with the atmosphere.
Adapted from http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/etc/guide-carboncycle.php
1. What is one important role carbon plays in supporting life on Earth?
2. What is a reservoir and what is its function in the carbon cycle?
3. Describe two of the processes that move carbon from one reservoir to another?
Explore: You will begin your journey as an individual carbon atom moving through the carbon cycle. Review
the rules below before beginning your journey.
1. Begin by adding a bead from your starting reservoir to your string. This will help you keep up with your
journey as you move to different reservoirs throughout the cycle.
2. Roll the die and read the information carefully about the process that will move you to your next
reservoir.
3. Move to the next station as instructed by the die. If the die tells you to stay in your same reservoir for
another turn, add another bead to your string before rolling the die again.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 to move through the carbon cycle. You should continue through the cycle until you
have a total of 10 beads on your string.
Explain:
1. Decode your string by drawing arrows to represent your movement as a carbon atom through the cycle
in the diagram on the next page. Number each arrow according the order you moved through the cycle.
2. Label the processes that moved you from one reservoir to the next. (If you moved between two
reservoirs more than once you only have to label the process once.)
3. Compare your carbon journey with another student’s. Describe how they are alike and how they are
different.
4. Describe a part of the carbon cycle where carbon is cycled quickly between two reservoirs, and identify
the process that moves the carbon.
5. Which reservoir have long residence time? Why do you think this is?
Extend:
6. Describe how human activity has affected the carbon cycle.
Spain Park High School, Hoover, Alabama 2016
Atmosphere
Freshwater
Land
Plants
Land
Consumers
Surface Ocean
Ocean
Plants
Ocean
Consumers
Deep Ocean
Dissolved
Deep Ocean
Particles
Ocean Sediment
Evaluate:
Design a model that shows the cycling of carbon between all the reservoirs. Include the processes that move
the carbon through each pathway.
Spain Park High School, Hoover, Alabama 2016