Parts of the Climate System
Title: The Carbon Cycle
Grade Level: 9-12
Subject/Content: Earth and Space Science
Summary of Lesson: Students will research the different forms carbon can take and how
carbon moves through the different spheres of the environment. Students will use this
information to create a poster that visually shows how carbon moves and what form carbon
takes in each of the spheres of the environment.
Focus Question: How does carbon cycle through the environment?
Resource: Science in Context
Procedures:
Steps/Activities by the Teacher:
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Lead a class discussion about the carbon cycle. Discuss different forms of
carbon, like CO2, and how carbon moves through different spheres, like when
fossil fuels from the geosphere are burned into the atmosphere.
Direct students to access Science in Context and search for articles on the carbon
cycle. Have students find and take notes about as many different forms of
carbon as possible. Also, have students find and take notes on the many ways
that carbon cycles through the different spheres in the environment.
Direct students to copy down the carbon cycle map below:
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Assign students into groups and instruct them to add the forms of carbon into the
sphere where that form resides. For example, CO2 would go in the atmosphere
circle. Then instruct students to draw labeled arrows between the spheres
explaining how the carbon moves from one sphere to another. For example, an
arrow with the label ‘burning’ would travel between the geosphere and the
atmosphere. Students should have at least one form of carbon in each sphere
and at least one arrow moving into and out of each sphere.
Direct students to create a poster of an environment that visually represents the
carbon cycle map that they have just created.
Direct students to send a representative from their group to travel around the
classroom looking at other groups’ posters. Any ideas gathered by this traveler
should be added to the group’s poster.
Instruct students to write a summary paragraph that uses evidence from this
assignment to explain why carbon must cycle through the environment.
Steps/Activities by Student(s):
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Access Science in Context and search for articles related to the carbon cycle.
Find and take notes about as many different forms of carbon as possible. Also,
find and take notes on the many ways that carbon cycles through the different
spheres in the environment.
Copy down the carbon cycle map below:
Add the forms of carbon that you found in your research into the sphere where
that form resides. For example, CO2 would go in the atmosphere circle. Then
draw labeled arrows between the spheres explaining how the carbon moves from
one sphere to another. For example, an arrow with the label ‘burning’ would
travel between the geosphere and the atmosphere. When you are finished you
should have at least one form of carbon in each sphere and at least one arrow
moving into and out of each sphere.
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As a group, create a poster of an environment that visually represents the carbon
cycle map that you have just created.
Send one representative from your group to travel around the classroom looking
at other groups’ posters. Any ideas gathered by this traveler should be added to
your group’s poster.
Write a summary paragraph using evidence from this assignment to explain why
carbon must cycle through the environment.
Outcome: Students will understand how carbon cycles through the environment. Students
will learn about the forms of carbon and the ways carbon is cycled through the
environment’s spheres. Students will understand why carbon cycling is essential to the
health of an ecosystem.
Related Activities:
Global Studies
 Direct students to create a research paper about how carbon is being moved
around the world in the form of fossil fuels. How does this movement and use
affect global warming, the environment, and the economy?
Chemistry
 Analyze how energy is stored in carbon. Direct students to create models of
the types of bonds that store energy versus the types of bonds that do not.
Compare and contrast the two types of bonds.
Learning Expectation: Students will use their research skills to locate relevant
information to the types and cycling of carbon. Students will apply knowledge gained from
research to the broader idea of how carbon moves through the Earth’s spheres.
Standards Alignment
Next Generation Science Standards
LS1.C:3. As matter and energy flow through different organizational levels of living
systems, chemical elements are recombined in different ways to form different products.
(HS-LS1-6), (HS-LS1-7)
LS2.B:3. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are important components of the carbon
cycle, in which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and
geosphere through chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes. (HS-LS2-5)
HS-ESS2-6. Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the
hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
ESS2.D:3. Changes in the atmosphere due to human activity have increased carbon dioxide
concentrations and thus affect climate. (HS-ESS2-6), (HS-ESS2-4)
Standard Source: Next Generation Science Standards (2013)
Common Core State Standards
Grades 9-10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text;
trace the text's explanation or depiction of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept;
provide an accurate summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and
other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical
context relevant to grades 9-10 texts and topics.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.5
Analyze the structure of the relationships among
concepts in a text, including relationships among key terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction
force, energy).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.10
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend
science/technical texts in the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and
proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Grades 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text;
summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing
them in simpler but still accurate terms.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and
other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical
context relevant to grades 11-12 texts and topics.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.5
Analyze how the text structures information or ideas into
categories or hierarchies, demonstrating understanding of the information or ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.10 By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend
science/technical texts in the grades 11-12 text complexity band independently and
proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Standard Source: Common Core State Standards Initiative (2010)