Students identify carbon stores in each of Earth's spheres, distinguish stores from flows, and explain that carbon moves between stores without being made or destroyed (AC9S9U03, node 2).
Load these into Waypoints Prepare: choose Load URL and paste the copied address, or download the file and import it. In Prepare, the worksheet's Teacher edition shows the answers; the student copy hides them.
Engage and Explore 7 min · Explain 10 min · Evaluate 3 min · Typical adds 3 min, Wider about 3 min
A concept tutorial for introducing or revising the idea. Set the width with ?width=minimum, typical (default) or wider. It sits between What are Earth's spheres? (node 1) and Where does the carbon in a tree go? (node 3), which uses the same cycle board to switch flows on and off.
Not a hinge node, but it sets up the cycle: students who confuse stores (amounts) with flows (amounts a year), or think burning destroys carbon, struggle with every later carbon lesson.
Board notes: the cycle board shows four stores; rocks (the largest store) are left out because their carbon moves over millions of years. Store sizes are rounded: air about 600 GtC before industry (about 875 today), living things and soil about 2150, oceans about 38 000, fossil fuels about 1000. Boxes are not to scale.
Telling a store from a flow. If a student calls photosynthesis a store, point to the units (tonnes, or tonnes a year) and ask which one is moving.
| What you will see | A question to ask | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| A student says burning destroys carbon. | What gas comes out of a chimney? | Carbon dioxide: the same carbon atoms, now in the air. Carbon moves; it isn't destroyed. |
| A student thinks the air holds most of Earth's carbon. | Look at the oceans' store on the board. How many times bigger is it? | About 50 times. Rocks hold more still. |
| A student thinks a steady store means nothing is moving. | If a bath's tap is on and the plug is out, can the water level stay the same? | Yes, when in equals out. The same goes for carbon stores. |
One possible solution for each task. Other correct programs are fine.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Stretch: If carbon is never destroyed, where does the carbon in coal come from? (Plants that took carbon dioxide from the air millions of years ago, buried before they could decay.)
Support: Give a four-row table: Sphere | A carbon store | What form the carbon is in.
For a student who has done the lesson and is still stuck. They paste it into an AI tool your school allows; it asks questions about this lesson's one idea and doesn't give answers. Students see it on the course recap page only through a link ending in ?coach=1: recap with coach prompts.
You are a patient science coach for a Year 9 student in Australia. Help me understand ONE idea only, from the lesson "Where is all the carbon?". The idea: Carbon as a substance cycling through Earth's spheres: I can identify where carbon is stored in each of Earth's spheres and explain that carbon moves between these stores. What understanding looks like: - Identifies carbon stores in at least three of Earth's four spheres with examples - Explains that carbon moves between stores rather than being created or destroyed - Distinguishes fast-cycling carbon stores (atmosphere, living organisms) from slow stores (fossil fuels, carbonate rock) Mistakes students often make here: - A student says burning destroys carbon. - A student thinks the air holds most of Earth's carbon. - A student thinks a steady store means nothing is moving. How to coach me (rules from the Waypoints Kit coach): - Ask me one short question at a time (2 to 4 sentences) and wait for my answer. Never give me the answer before you have heard my thinking, and don't hide the answer inside your question. - Start in Discover: ask me to explain the idea in my own words, or to predict what happens in a simple example. I can switch any time: "teach it back" (you play a beginner and I explain), "spot the flaw" (you show me an answer with one common mistake and I find it), or "check" (I explain, and you tell me what is solid and what to revisit). - If I am stuck or say "just tell me", ask what I think first, then give a small hint or a simpler example. Explain only after I have had a real go. - If I seem to be missing the idea that comes before this one (Earth's spheres — geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere), check it quickly, then come back. - Stay in this idea: don't teach later ideas or add extra content. If I ask about something else, say it is for another lesson and bring me back. - After you help, ask me one reflective question, such as how I know my answer is right or what I would check. - Praise my effort and method, not my ability. - You can be wrong: if I rely on something you said, remind me to check it against my notes or the lesson. If you don't know, say so. - Use simple words. - Stop when I can explain the idea in my own words and get one new example right. Then tell me to go back to the lesson "Where is all the carbon?".
Name a carbon store in the hydrosphere and one in the geosphere, and one flow that moves carbon into the atmosphere.
Hydrosphere: carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans. Geosphere: fossil fuels or limestone. Flow into the air: respiration, decay, burning or release from the oceans.
Next: Where does the carbon in a tree go? (photosynthesis and respiration, node 3), then fossil fuels (node 4).
In class: a "carbon atom's journey" dice game around stores; dissolving carbon dioxide from breath in limewater.