The Greenhouse Effect: How do greenhouse gases affect Earth’s climate?

STUDENT LABORATORY -- The Greenhouse Effect Part 2 (Gizmos)

Full Name: ______________________________________ Lab Section: _______ Lab Instructor: _____________________

Lab Date: __________ Credit: 1 lab

The Greenhouse Effect: How do greenhouse gases affect Earth's climate?

Objectives. Students will:

? Explain how heat enters and leaves Earth's atmosphere. ? Determine that the rate heat flows out of the atmosphere depends on the concentration of greenhouse gases.

Introduction: Where do greenhouse gases come from? Animals release carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) during cellular respiration. Also, burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas produces CO2 . Much of the CO2 in the atmosphere is used by green plants in photosynthesis, but too much CO2 can be a serious problem. In this activity, you will see the effects of variations in the amount of greenhouse gases.

Materials: Computer device to access the internet

Gizmos Customer Service: For any help with your Gizmos account, contact their support team by calling 866-8824141 or by email form on their website here: DO NOT contact them if you are having issues with Google Classroom.

Part 2: Changing Levels of Greenhouse Gases

1. Click on the list or go to "The Greenhouse Effect- Metric" Gizmos lab in your Gizmos class folder. Link here:

2. Once you have launched the Greenhouse Gizmo, you should open the "Graph" tab. Set the greenhouse gas slider to 10%. Set the simulation speed to fast and click Play for a whole month (30-31 days).

a. Fill in the 10% column table below for day 30. You can click and drag the graph to view a date that is not currently in view. You can also click the + and ? sign to zoom in/out. Note: if a particular line is not present at the day interval, the value is 0. The further directions will help you fill in the other columns). Please continue to procedure step 2 after completing the first column.

Feature

High Hin

High Hout Daily High Temp

(oF) Daily Low Temp

(oF)

10% (Day 30) 20% (Day 7) 20% (Day 30) 30% (Day 7) 30% (Day 30)

Greenhouse Greenhouse Greenhouse Greenhouse Greenhouse

Gasses

Gasses

Gasses

Gasses

Gasses

3. Click Reset. Set Greenhouse gases (relative percent) to 20%. (To set a slider to a specific value, type the number in the field to the right of the slider and hit Enter or toggle it) Click Play and watch for 7 days and click pause.

a. Fill in the 20% Day 7 column on the table above.

4. Click play and watch until 30 days then pause.

a. Fill in the 20% Day 30 column on the table above. b. With higher levels of greenhouse gases, how has Hin changed, if at all?

(Record one: Increased, Same, Decreased) c. How has Hout changed, with more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere?

(Record one: Increased, Same, Decreased) d. How have the daily temperatures changed?

(Record one: Increased, Same, Decreased)

5. Click Reset. Set Greenhouse gases (relative percent) to 30%. Click Play and watch for 7 days. a. Fill in the 30% Day 7 column on the table above.

6. Click Play and watch until Day 30 then pause. b. Fill in the 30% Day 30 column on the table above. c. With higher levels of greenhouse gases, how has Hin changed (Record one: Increased, Same, Decreased) d. How has Hout changed? (Record one: Increased, Same, Decreased)

e. Compare how the temperature change from day 7 to 30 at 30% is different from when theGreenhouse gases slider was set to 20%?

7. With Greenhouse gases (relative percent) still set to 30% let it play until day 60. a. What happens to the temperature? (Record one: Continue to increase, Eventually levels off)

8. With the simulation still running, adjust the Greenhouse gases (relative percent) back down to 10%. a. Does Hout return to its previous levels? (Record one: Yes, No) b. How do the daily high and low temperatures change? (Recored one: Continue to increase, Eventually Level off, Begin to decrease c. How quickly does that change occur? (Record one: One Month, Two Months) d. If the number of trees in this greenhouse model increased, what would happen to the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide?

(Record one: Increase, Same, Decrease) e. Explain your answer.

9. Reset the simulation. Set greenhouse gasses to 10% and hit Play. Let the simulation run for a while. Every 5-7 days, increase the amount of greenhouse gasses until you reach 60%. a. What happens to the temperature line? (If necessary, click - to the right of the graph to zoom out.) b. What is the relationship between greenhouse gasses and temperature?

10. Scroll to the bottom of the Gizmos page and take the quiz at the end of the Gizmo. Your answers will be recorded on the website.

Summary Questions: Use the selected resources below to help with answering the summary questions. 1. Draw conclusions: The influence of greenhouse gases on temperature is called the greenhouse effect. Based on what you have seen, how do greenhouse gases affect the heat flow into and out of Earth's atmosphere?

2. Extend your thinking: Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide have risen dramatically in the past century. Most scientists agree that this has begun to result in global warming, a slow increase in average temperature worldwide. What are the possible consequences of global warming?

Selected Web Resources Climate change: , , Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center: Effects of global warming: , , Ocean acidification:

You Have Completed the Greenhouse Effect Lab!

*Important -- Save this lab for your records. Upload this lab report to your Google Classroom for lab credit

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