Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
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ScienceEarth and climate25 min★★ difficulty

The carbon cycle and a warming atmosphere

Carbon is constantly moving between the air, living things, the oceans and the rocks. Human activity has added a new, one-way route into that cycle.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Chemistry: Earth and atmosphere: Understand the carbon cycle and the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the carbon cycle and the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate

Key learning points

  • • The natural cycle
  • • What humans changed
  • • The greenhouse effect

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 16 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

carbonproductiondioxideactivityimpact

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 16 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 16

Watch first

The carbon cycle and a warming atmosphere

An English teaching video on this topic from CENTURY Tech. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the carbon cycle and the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 16

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · The natural cycle

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 16

Learn

The natural cycle

Photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide from the air and locks carbon into plant tissue. Respiration, decay and natural combustion return it. The oceans dissolve and release carbon dioxide, and over very long timescales carbon is stored in rock and fossil fuels.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 16

Learn

What humans changed

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon that had been stored underground for millions of years. Deforestation removes photosynthesising plants that would have absorbed some of it. Together these raise the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere faster than natural processes remove it.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 16

Quick check

Which process removes carbon dioxide from the air?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 16

Quick check

Why does burning fossil fuels change the cycle?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 16

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 16

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · The greenhouse effect

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 16

Learn

The greenhouse effect

Greenhouse gases let sunlight through but absorb infrared radiation leaving the Earth's surface, keeping the planet warm enough to live on. Increasing their concentration strengthens the effect, raising average global temperature and shifting weather and sea levels.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 16

Quick check

What do greenhouse gases absorb?

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 16

Quick check

Why does deforestation matter for carbon dioxide?

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 16

Worked example

Worked example: reading a carbon dioxide graph

A graph shows a saw-tooth line rising steadily from 1960 to today. Interpretation: the annual zig-zag is the northern hemisphere growing season, when photosynthesis briefly outpaces respiration. The upward trend beneath it is the human addition — the cycle is no longer balanced year to year.

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 16

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Challenge round

Part 14 of 16

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Photosynthesis removes ____ dioxide from the air and locks carbon into plant tissue.

The oceans dissolve and release carbon ____, and over very long timescales carbon is stored in rock and fossil fuels.

15

Mastery quiz

Part 15 of 16

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: The carbon cycle and a warming atmosphere

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Which process removes carbon dioxide from the air?

  2. 2. Why does burning fossil fuels change the cycle?

  3. 3. What do greenhouse gases absorb?

  4. 4. Why does deforestation matter for carbon dioxide?

16

Lesson round-up

Part 16 of 16

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Why the school greenhouse failed

A science club grew tomato plants in the school greenhouse. In June the plants grew well: leaves were dark green and the fruit set quickly. In July the club went away for two weeks and left the greenhouse door shut. When they came back, the leaves were curled and pale and most of the fruit had dropped.

The club had a data logger inside. It showed the temperature reached 46 °C on several afternoons and the soil moisture fell close to zero. The club knew photosynthesis needs light, water and carbon dioxide, and that enzymes in a plant work best in a narrow range of temperature. Above that range the enzymes stop working properly.

The club repeated the summer with the door propped open and a water bottle drip on each pot. Temperature peaked at 31 °C and the plants survived.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
  2. Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
  3. Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.

  • Method and results

    Writing

    Write the aim, what you changed, what you measured and what you kept the same, then record your results in a table.

    1 page + results table

  • Conclusion

    Writing

    Explain what your results show and why, using the scientific words from the lesson. Say how you know you can trust them.

    6–8 sentences

  • Labelled diagram

    Diagram

    Draw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.

    1 labelled diagram

  • Reading and notes

    Reading

    Read the lesson text again and write the key ideas in your own words.

    Half a page of notes

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 16 · Watch & discover

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    Understand the carbon cycle and the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate

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