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Objectives:1. o understand that carbon cycles rom one ormto another and the role that orests play in this
process.
2. o understand where and how carbon isstored.
3. o understand how orests can play a role inofsetting climate change.
Subjects:1. Science: Ecology & Chemistry2. Reading / Language Arts
ocus:Establish the basiccarbon cycle
Why is carbon important? It is the
basic building block o nearly all
molecules that make up living
organisms. It is in sugars, DNA,
proteins, ats... etc.
Carbon is in most things around
us; people, plants, trees, soil, oceans,and even the air we breathe. Tere is only a certain
amount o carbon in, on, and around the Earth. Te to
amount o carbon stays the same, it just changes rom
orm to another. Tis is called a cycle.
Te Carbon Cycle is the movement o carbon, in its
many orms, between the biosphere (all o the Earths
living organisms), atmosphere (the gaseous envelope
surrounding the Earth), hydrosphere (the Earths supp
o water), and geosphere (the solid part o the Earth).
Translated this means:
The Carbon Cycle is the movement of carbon, in its m
forms, between:
1. All living plants and animals2. The gas surrounding the Earth3. Water
4.Soil and rocks
Show students the graphic of the Carbon Cycle. Poin
out that there are really only a few main pieces to the
carbon cycle:
1. The Atmosphere2. Ocean exchange3. Fossil fuels emissions4. Terrestrial exchange
Lesson 9Forests, Carbon & Our Climat
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V
O
C
A
B
U
L
A
R
Y
1. Atmosphere: the gaseous envelope surroundingthe Earth.
2. Biomass: the term biomass has twodenitions: 1) the total mass o living matterwithin a given unit o environmental area; or 2)plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste
used as a uel or energy source.3. Carbon Cycle: movement o carbon, in its
many orms (solid, liquid, and gas), betweenthe biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, andgeosphere.
4. Carbon Sequestration: the removaland capture o available atmospheric carbonin plants, soils, oceans, or atmosphere. reesin the orests, as well as orest products, areprimary carbon sequestration mechanisms.
Approximately 50% o wood consists o carbon.Te place where the carbon is sequestered isoen reerred to as a carbon sink.
5. Decomposition: the breakdown o organicmaterial into smaller molecules which are thenrecirculated or used again by another organism.Tis is natures way o recycling. During the process,carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.
6. Emission: the act o releasing or putting asubstance into circulation making it available orchemical reaction. Oen the word emission is aterm used to describe pollution such as the gasesgiven of by an automobile or a large orest re;however it can also be used to describe gases thatare given of by a tree or a human and releasedinto the air. Contrast with Sequestration.
7. Fossil Fuels: uels such as oil, natural gas,and coal. Tese combustible materials areound in the Earths crust and are the remainso prehistoric organisms. Burning ossil uelstypically results in a release o high levels o
carbon into the atmosphere. Fossil uels are anon-renewable resource.
8. Global Warming: the theory that Earthssurace temperature is rising as a result o theincreased concentrations o various gases in theatmosphere called greenhouse gases.
9. Greenhouse Effect: the efect ovarious gases within the Earths atmospherereecting radiant energy back to the Earthssurace similar to the efect which occurs in a
greenhouse. Greenhouse gases, such as CO2(carbon dioxide), methane, and ozone, insulateand warm the Earths surace. Without theGreenhouse Efect, lie on Earth, as we knowit, would not be possible and there would beno liquid water on the Earth. Te greenhouse
efect may be enhanced by increased levelso greenhouse gases in the atmosphere thuscausing a greater warming o the Earths suracetemperatures (Global Warming).
10.Photosynthesis: the process wherebyplants make the carbohydrates glucose, sucrose,and starch rom sunlight, carbon dioxide, andwater. During this process oxygen and waterare released as byproducts. Te carbon rom thecarbon dioxide is made into carbohydrates whichare either used or stored. Te carbohydrates that
are used are converted to energy through theprocess o respiration; carbon dioxide and waterare ormed as byproducts. See Respiration. Tecarbon that is stored in the plant is said to besequestered. See Carbon Sequestration.
11. Respiration: the process whereby plantsand animals convert carbohydrates, water, andoxygen into energy, carbon dioxide and waterare released as byproducts o this process. Bothphotosynthesis and respiration occur in plants.Te diference between the carbon uptakethrough photosynthesis and carbon releasethrough respiration is called net carbon uptakeand is the amount o carbon that is sequestered.See Photosynthesis.
12. Sequestration: the act o orming a stablecompound so it is not available or chemicalreaction. Contrast with Emission. See alsoCarbon Sequestration denition above.
13. Sink and Source: within the carbon cycle,a sink is any location where carbon is stored.
A source is any location in the carbon cyclewhere carbon is released or made available orchemical reaction. Some examples o carbonsinks are orests, soil, and the ocean. A sinkmay be temporary. Carbon sinks can turninto carbon sources; or example, ossil uelsare sinks while they are buried in the Earthand wood is a sink. When the ossil uels orwood are burned, carbon is released into theatmosphere and it is now called a carbon source.
Vocabulary
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Carbon Sink How does it get there? Carbon Source How is it emitted?
Plant biomass Photosynthesis takes in
carbon dioxide from
atmosphere and incorporatesit into sugars that become
part of the plant tissue
Burning Fossil
fuels
Driving vehicles,
coal fired electrical
plants, etc
Which ones are both carbon sources and sinks?
Name_____________Instruct students to work with a partner to identify carbsinks and carbon sources. How could carbon enter a siHow could that carbon be released or emitted from tsink to become a carbon source?
Carbon Cycle Sinksand Sources
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Reducingour Carbon
Footprint...1. We often hear about
ways to reduce ourcarbon footprints.
2. What does this mean?Reducing your carbon ootprint means that
you reduce the amount o carbon dioxide that
is emitted due to your daily activities such
as driving your car, buying products that are
shipped rom overseas, etc.
3. Why would we want to do this?Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse
gases play an important role in helping the
earth trap and retain heat or lie as we know it,
however, an increase in the amount o carbon
dioxide in our atmosphere could lead to overallwarming o our climate. Reducing our carbon
ootprints will reduce the amount o carbon dioxide
that is emitted into the atmosphere as a result o
our activities.
4. How can we reduce ourcarbon footprints?Have your class calculate their carbon
ootprints using this website:http://www.epa.
gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html
Discuss class results. What activities seem to heavily
impact the carbon ootprints?
Instruct students to work with a partner to come up
with a list o ways to reduce their carbon ootprints.
Plant trees to help store more carbon.
Use wood products that store carbon rom
sustainably managed orests.
Using public transportation, riding a bike or
walking when possible rather than driving a car.
Manage orests to grow healthy trees because
healthy trees store more carbon.
Recycling materials that can be recycled.
Manage orests to prevent large orest res that
release a lot o carbon into the atmosphere.
Use renewable energy sources and support
development o new renewable energy sources s
as biomass energy.
Decrease use o ossil uels which release high
levels o carbon into the atmosphere.
Reduce the amount o trash that the amily
produces.
Conserving electricity and heating uels.
Use energy-e cient appliances and turn the
of when not in use.
Use energy-e cient bulbs.
Set house temperatures lower in the wint
and higher in the summer.
Use renewable resources which generally
release less carbon than nonrenewable
resources.
Now show students the graphic: Forestry
Never Looked So Cool to explore howorests can play a very important role in
reducing our carbon ootprints. Read the
excerpt by Patrick Moore, Ph.D. as a class to help
understand the graphic and to acilitate discussion
orestrys role in mitigating climate change.
Patrick Moore, Ph.D.
Photo used with permission by Greenspirit Strategie
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Te concepts in The Carbon Cycle: Forestry
Never Looked So Cool graphic are well
ummarized in the following excerpt by Patrick
Moore, Ph.D. in the Winter 2006 edition of
California Forests.
rees are the most powerul concentrators o carbon
on Earth. Trough photosynthesis, they absorb CO2rom the atmosphere and store it in their wood,
which is nearly 50 percent carbon by weight. Te
relationship between trees and greenhouse gases
s simple enough on the surace. rees grow by
aking carbon dioxide rom the atmosphere and,
hrough photosynthesis, converting it into sugars.
Te sugars are then used as energy and material
o build the cellulose and lignin that are the mainconstituents o wood. When a tree rots or burns the
carbon contained in the wood is released back to
he atmosphere. Active orest management, such as
hinning, removing dead trees, and clearing debris
rom the orest foor is very eective in reducing the
number and intensity o orest res. And the wood
hat is removed can be put to good use or lumber,
paper and energy.Te impact o orests on the global carbon cycle can
be boiled down to these key points:
On the negative side, the most important actor
inuencing the carbon cycle is deorestation
which results in a permanent loss o orest cover
and a large release o CO2 into the atmosphere.
Deorestationwhich occurs primarily in tropical
countries where orests are
permanently cleared and
converted to agriculture
and urban settlement
is responsible or about
20 percent o global CO2
emissions.
On the positive side, planting ast-growing
trees is the best way to absorb CO2 rom the
atmosphere. Many countries with temperate
orest have seen an increase in carbon stored in
trees in recent years. Tis includes New Zealan
the United States, Sweden and Canada. Plus,
using wood sustainably reduces the need or
non-renewable ossil uels and materials such
as steel and concrete the very causes o CO2
emissions in the rst place.
Te good news is that orests in the United States
are net carbon sinks, since annual growth exceed
annual harvest. We are currently experiencing aincrease in orested land as orests are being re-
established on land previously used or agricult
Catastrophic wildfres are uncommon in manage
orests, whereas millions o acres o unmanaged
orests burn every year due to excessive build-u
o dead trees and woody debris.
Every wood substitute, including steel, plastic
and cement, requires ar more energy to producethan lumber. More energy usually translates into
more greenhouse gases in the orm o ossil uel
consumption or cement production.
One o the best ways to address climate change i
use more wood, not less. Wood is simply the mos
abundant, biodegradable and renewable materi
on the planet.
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As a class, make a list on the board that outlines orest
management activities that increase carbon sequestration
nd reduce carbon emissions. Note that orests in the
United States sequester 10 percent o all U.S. carbon
missions. Now have your class come up with ideas
o increase carbon sequestration by our orests. Te
ollowing site rom the American Forest Foundation will
be very helpul in this task:
http://www.forestfoundation.org/ccs_carbon.html
CarbonCreationActivity...Materials: Colored Marshmallows, oothpicks
nstructions: Choose one color o marshmallow to
epresent each o the ollowing elements: carbon,
oxygen, hydrogen. Use toothpicks to bond the elements
ogether properly. A dash indicates a single bond (one
oothpick) and an equal sign indicates a double bond (two
oothpicks). Make one carbon dioxide molecule and one
glucose molecule to show how carbon changes as a result
o photosynthesis.
During photosynthesis, water inside the lea o the
plant is stripped o its hydrogen the two oxygen atoms
combine and are released into the atmosphere as oxyge
gas. Carbon dioxide enters through the lea stomata
and goes through changes so the plant can build a larg
structure o carbon, hydrogen and oxygen called gluco
= ood and energy or the plant!)
O=C=OCarbon Dioxide
Glucose
O-H-OWater
Reinforcement IdeasDownload the Carbon Fingerprints Game
rom Te Forest Foundation Website
http://www.calforestfoundation.org/pdf/
Forests-and-the-Carbon-Cycle.pdf (Page E1)
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