Age Range: 14 to 16

Carbon Dioxide – Seasonal Cycles

Post date 11 December 2023

An exam style question suitable for GCSE science.

Notes for Teachers

The units for the data are in fact ppmv which we have simplified to ‘parts per million’ for this question.

This is a nice visualisation of what 420ppmv looks like.

The questions explore the fact that there is a seasonal cycle in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because plants take up carbon dioxide during photosynthesis in the spring and summer, which is then released back into the atmosphere when plants die and leaves rot in the autumn and winter.

Carbon dioxide is a well mixed gas, meaning that the data recorded at Mauna Loa is representative of the Northern Hemisphere, and that at the South Pole is representative of the Southern Hemisphere.

The seasons are out of phase with each other – when it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

As there is far less vegetation in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere, the seasonal cycle is much smaller.

Students may notice that there could also be a human element to the cycle – we burn more fossil fuels in the winter than in the summer (and there are also fewer people in the Southern Hemisphere).

The correct answer for the mean is 416.1 parts per million.

As well as the seasonal cycle, the graph provided shows the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1958. This increase is because of the emissions of carbon dioxide by human activities including land use change including deforestation, burning fossil fuels and cement production.

Data Sources:

https://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/data/atmospheric_co2/spo.html

https://gml.noaa.gov/webdata/ccgg/trends/co2/co2_mm_mlo.txt

https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/

Image Credit:

NOAA/ Susan Cobb

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Climate Change and Biodiversity

Exploring the links between biodiversity and climate change.

Storm Surges

Post date 28 September 2023

Watch this short animation to learn about the causes and impacts of storm surges in the UK, as well as the expected impact of climate change on them.

At the bottom of the page, you can download a Knowledge Organiser to complement the animation.

With thanks to the students and staff at Boston College for their contribution to the animation.

‘Saving Venice’ on the BBC iPlayer also has a good explanation of storm surges and overview of some of the innovative responses Venice is implementing.

Isaac Physics

Post date 18 January 2023

A diverse range of questions based on applications of physics in weather and climate, including sea level rise, radar frequencies, aerosols, oceanic circulation, tidal barrages etc.

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Snowflake fall speed

Aerosol attenuation

Barometric formula

Concentration of Oxygen

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Electric Car Electrics

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Post date 18 January 2023

Climate-based questions for students and teachers. A team of students and academics at the University of Oxford developed these Maths for Planet Earth questions.

Physics – Egypt’s Benban Solar Farm

Post date 21 September 2022

In this resource linked to COP27 in Egypt, physics students explore renewable energy production.

Learning Objectives

Recognise that solar power is a renewable energy source of great value in Egypt
Describe the energy transfer in a solar cell
Evaluate the energy dissipated in the Benban solar farm
Calculate the cost of the energy produced using the formula cost = power (kW ) x time (hours) x price (per kWh).

Motivation/Outline

In its acceptance speech at COP26, Egypt celebrated its renewable energy resources:

This is an extract from https://unfccc-cop26.streamworld.de/webcast/closing-plenary-of-the-cop-followed-by-cmp-and-c-2 from 09:20

‘Egypt transitioned from the traditional energy sources to renewable, more sustainable and planet-friendly energy sources…’

One of these resources is the huge Benban solar farm.

Lesson Introduction

Watch the relevant part of the COP26 plenary video and/ or

The Benban solar farm was supported by the Green Climate Fund. Contributions to the Green Climate Fund were one of the areas which didn’t make as much progress as was hoped at COP26 in Glasgow, 2021.
COP27 will be at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt in November 2022.

images from google maps

Discussion points:

What is a renewable energy source?
Why is it important to develop renewable energy sources?
What is a solar cell and how is it different from a solar panel? Where have people seen solar cells/ panels?
What makes a location suitable for a huge solar energy farm? (space, sunshine, access for bringing the equipment in and getting the electricity out…)
Could we build such a huge solar park in the UK? (no, we don’t have a big desert, but you could research some UK solar farms)

Use https://globalsolaratlas.info/map to compare the global horizontal irradiation where you live with that in Benban. (for Benban the value is given as 2366 kWh/m²).
Global horizontal irradiation is the total amount of solar energy reaching a 1m² horizontal surface on the ground in a year.
Discussion point: What is a kWh? (if 1 kWh is the electrical energy converted by a 1 kW appliance used for 1 hour rephrase this in terms of electrical energy generation. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2h4dxs/revision/1 for more detail)
Discussion point: So what is a kWh/ m²?
Extension: Express this answer as a proportion or percentage
Discuss: what is the initial store of energy and by what pathways is it transferred? (nuclear store in the Sun, energy is transferred by light from the Sun to the panel and is transferred electrically from the panel to homes and businesses)
The size of the Benban solar farm is 37.2 km². Calculate the total energy carried by the light arriving at the site.
(37.2km² = 37 200 000m2 so 2366 x 37 200 000 = 88,015,200,000 kWh = 88 015.2 GWh = 88.0TWh)
Discuss: kilo, mega, giga, Tera etc.
The estimated output from Benban is 3.8TWh. How much energy is not converted usefully?
88.0-3.8 = 84.2TWh
Extension – write this as a proportion or percentage
Discussion – why so much? Solar panels don’t cover the whole of the ground, solar panels are actually less efficient when they get hot, you can see solar panels, so they must be reflecting some of the Sun’s light, not absorbing it all etc.)
What is the current electricity price in your region? (see https://www.ukpower.co.uk/home_energy/tariffs-per-unit-kwh and scroll down for regional breakdown).
What is the value of the energy the Benban solar farm will produce during COP27, which is scheduled to last 2 weeks (assume there are 52 weeks in a year)?
(cost = power (kW ) x time (hours) x price (per kWh).
So value = 3, 800, 000, 000 kWh x 2/52 x 28.34 = £41,420,000.
Discussion – is that surprising?
Why might the quantity of electricity produced actually be different? (We started with an annual value, but the seasons and the weather will actually have an impact on how much is produced in a given week).

KS3 Geography – Egypt’s Construction Problem

Post date 21 September 2022

In this resource linked to COP27 in Egypt, geography students explore population growth, urbanisation and climate change.

Introduction/Motivation

The 2022 United Nations climate change conference (27th session of the Conference of Parties – COP27) will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, starting on the 7th of November.

In the introduction video screened at the end of COP26 in Glasgow, Egypt celebrated its adaptations and mitigations to climate change. In this resource, students will explore population growth, urbanisation and the greenhouse gas emissions from the construction industry in Egypt.

Resources:

PowerPoint

Learning Outcomes

To understand what COP27 is
To describe how the population of Egypt has grown and is projected to grow in the future
To be able to interpret a population pyramid for Egypt and use that to explain Egypt’s changing population
To explain how the construction industry has an impact on the climate and what steps can be taken to reduce that impact.

Optimising Flight Times

Post date 21 September 2022

Calculate the best flight time from A to B and reduce greenhouse gas emissions!

The table below represents a cross section through the atmosphere and gives wind speeds (in m/s) in boxes which are 200km long and 1km high.

Your task is to pilot an aircraft, which flies at 230m/s when it is flying in the less dense atmosphere higher than 5km, and 150m/s when it is flying in the more dense atmosphere lower than 5km, from A to B in the shortest time possible.

Remember, flying in the same direction as the wind increases your speed but flying against the wind slows you down.

Map your route on the chart below and then calculate the flight time!

Rules

You take off from the ground at A and land on the ground at B.
You can only climb, or descend, one box per 200km.
Give your final answer in hours and minutes.

Some students may find the following table useful:

Solutions for teachers

UK Energy Mix

Post date 21 September 2022

In this activity students use current data to investigate the UK’s energy resources.

Go to gridwatch.co.uk and use the table and the key at the bottom of the page to complete the following table. This website shows you where the UK’s electric power is coming from and what the total demand (use) is and has been over the past year.

(1 GW = 1 000 000 000W)

In some of the boxes, you may see a negative number – what does that mean?
What is the total net amount of power we are currently getting from France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway?
For the power generated in the UK, highlight all renewable energy resources.
What is the total amount of power we are currently generating from fossil fuels in the UK?
Looking at the graph headed ‘yesterday’, when would have been the best time to charge an electric car, if you wanted to use as much renewable power as possible? Why?
Looking at the graph headed ‘last year’ which season(s) have the most electricity generated by solar energy?
Which season(s) have the most energy generated by wind energy?

Extension

By looking at the total energy demand, and the production by wind energy, what can you deduce is the purpose of gas turbines?

Can you see any correlation between wind output and gas turbine output?

Opportunity for Group Work

Make a poster or presentation showing what you have learned.

Cloud Cover and Light Levels

Post date 21 September 2022

In this activity, students will test the hypothesis that “When the clouds are darker, more of the Sun’s light has been scattered and so less light reaches the ground”

Advice for teachers

Ideally, this activity should be carried out over a week or longer. This could mean that different classes contribute towards collecting the data.

You will need

A smartphone or other device which has an inbuilt light meter (most do).
A light meter app. There are several freely available
A cloud colour chart printed out e.g. https://www.metlink.org/fieldwork-resource/does-it-always-rain-from-dark-clouds/ or other grey scale image

Advice

Only compare light levels recorded by the same device/ app. Why?
Always measure the light levels at roughly the same time of day. Why?
Try and hold your device flat in your hand, with the surface horizontal, every time you make a measurement. Why?

Extension

Draw a graph which shows light level against grey scale number

Questions

Is there any relationship between the amount of light reaching the surface of the Earth and the colour of the clouds?
Do your results support the hypothesis?
Write a paragraph or draw a cartoon explaining how the thickness of a cloud affects what colour it looks and how much light there is near the ground. Make sure you include the words ‘visible light’ and ‘scatter’.

Air Pressure and Height

Post date 21 September 2022

We can’t see or feel atmospheric pressure but rely on barometers to tell us how the pressure is changing.

Pressure changes with altitude. Changing weather patterns can also lead to changing atmospheric pressure.

For these exercises, you will need to download the phyphox app onto your phone or, if you are working in small groups, onto one person’s phone.

You will also need a tape measure (5m) and access to an open stairwell – the higher, the better!

Using the following information, calculate the theoretical atmospheric pressure at the surface of the Earth:

Total mass of the atmosphere: 5 x 10¹⁸kg

Radius of the Earth: 6370km (OR surface area of Earth = 5.1 x 10 ¹⁴ m²)
Gravitational field strength, g = 10 ms^-2

Pressure = force/ area
Pressure = mass x g/ (4 pi r²)
Pressure = (5 x 10¹⁸ x 10)/ (5.1 x 10 ¹⁴)
Pressure = 98057 Pa

Alternative units: 1hPa = 100 Pa
1 millibar (mbar) = 1 hPa

Now open the app and select pressure:

Now use the forward arrow to start measuring the pressure:

Record the current air pressure in your classroom in Pa __________________________________

What proportion of the theoretical atmospheric pressure you calculated above it this (express your answer as a percentage)?___________________________

Move to an open stairwell and complete the following table, using a tape measure to record the vertical distance you have ascended between each measurement you make. Make sure that you make your first measurement at floor level.

Now draw a graph of change in atmospheric pressure (dependent variable) against height (independent variable).

Complete the following sentence “A pressure change of 1hPa indicates an altitude change of ____m”.

Extension Questions
Many smart phones, watches etc. are equipped with pressure sensors so that they can be used to calculate altitude.

1) If you used a phone (in flight safe mode) to measure the pressure inside an aeroplane in flight, why won’t it give you an accurate indication of the height you are flying at?

2) You are on a many-day expedition to the Himalayan mountains and you are using the pressure sensor in your watch to tell you how high you are. Why would it not be safe to rely on this information?

(resources created from ideas on https://phyphox.org/)

Notes for Teachers

Data Sources:

Image Credit:

Related Resources...

In this resource linked to COP27 in Egypt, physics students explore renewable energy production.

Motivation/Outline

Lesson Introduction

Discussion points:

In this resource linked to COP27 in Egypt, geography students explore population growth, urbanisation and climate change.

Introduction/Motivation

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