A few quick questions on labelling the carbon cycle, which flows are natural and which are human, and how burning fuels changed the balance. Taught in class; use this to check yourself.
Carbon has been moving between air, living things, water and rock for billions of years. What have we changed?
Your teacher covers drawing the whole cycle in class. These questions check the basics: the flows, who or what drives them, and the human change.
Explain: Use the particle model to explain what you saw.
Make your prediction first. Help opens once you've locked it in.
ExplainUse the particle model to explain what you saw.
The whole cycle
Match each flow to where it moves carbon.
Photosynthesis
Respiration by animals
Burning coal
The ocean dissolving carbon dioxide
Is the flow biological, geological or human-driven?
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Decomposition
A volcano releasing carbon dioxide
Burning petrol in cars
Clearing and burning a forest
For teachers
A self-test on the whole carbon cycle: flows between spheres, what drives each, and the effect of combustion (AC9S9U03, node 5, taught in class). About 10 minutes.
I can sort flows as biological, geological or human-driven.
I can explain how burning fossil fuels changed the balance.
Before class
A Quick check: a few questions on what students should know for AC9S9U03 node 5, which you teach in class. It has no board, no clip and no new teaching, and it is optional, so it never holds up course completion. Set the width with ?width=minimum, typical (default) or wider.
Use it as a self-test after your teaching, a starter, or revision. The four lessons on screen cover spheres, stores, living things and fossil fuels; this node is the student drawing or annotating the whole diagram. The questions check the vocabulary before or after.
Running the lesson
Ask students to sketch the diagram first, then do the questions.
The sort is a good basis for colour-coding arrows on the diagram.
The hard part (on purpose)
Labelling the direction of each arrow. When a student draws an arrow the wrong way, ask which sphere the carbon starts in.
When students get stuck
A student says burning fuels destroys carbon. Ask: Where does the carbon go? Fix: Into the air as carbon dioxide; carbon is moved, not destroyed.
A student says human flows are tiny next to natural ones. Ask: Do natural flows balance each other? Fix: Mostly yes. The human flow is extra and not balanced.
Stretch and support
Stretch: Annotate a carbon cycle diagram with the approximate size of each flow. Which human flow is biggest?
Support: Give a diagram with the arrows drawn and the processes on cards to place.
Where it leads
Back in class: draw the full cycle with colour for biological, geological and human flows; link to Year 10 climate.
What each step is for
The whole cycle: Node 5: label flows between spheres, sort them as biological, geological or human-driven, and explain the human change.
Now you can
Name the main carbon flows between spheres.
Sort flows as biological, geological or human-driven.
Explain how burning fossil fuels changed the balance.