Level: Secondary Science

secondary-science

Carbon Footprint – Teacher’s Notes

Post date 4 February 2021

Carbon, fossils fuels and CO₂

Carbon is one of the building blocks of life. Humans, animals and plants are made up of organic compounds. We burn wood and fossil fuels to produce energy and power transport, inadvertently releasing the greenhouse gas, CO₂ into the atmosphere. Students will become more aware of the facts and figures that link the carbon cycle with CO₂ emissions and the jargon that is used in the news and in global climate politics.

Chemistry curriculum links: AQA GCSE

3.2.1 Use of amount of substance in relation to masses of pure substances (Moles)

7.1 Carbon compounds as fuels and feedstock

9.2 Carbon dioxide and methane as greenhouse gases

9.2.4 The carbon footprint and its reduction

Chemistry in the activity

Calculating the energy from combustion of different fuels is related to the number of Carbon atoms these hydrocarbons contain. The amount of CO₂ produced upon combustion is our way of measuring the Carbon footprint of energy sources. Electricity is generated from various forms of energy in each country´s electricity mix and the more renewables and the fewer inefficient coal power plants there are, the less CO₂ is released per kWh electricity used. The UK is trying to go below 100 g of CO₂ released per kWh by 2030 and is likely to achieve this before that date.

In the associated worksheet the students will carry out calculations based on a range of information they will find in the corresponding information sheet. They will become familiar with conversions between tons of Carbon and tons of CO₂, the volume of CO₂ and other factors they may hear in the news or that relate to their personal, a country´s or organisation´s carbon emissions.

They will go to websites that provide current global CO₂ levels and a breakdown of the UK´s electricity supply, with the corresponding kg of CO₂ this will emit per unit electricity used. Questions 1&2 use numeracy skills to evaluate and compare different forms of energy and different technologies.

Question 3 is best used as a classroom discussion and covers carbon neutrality, achieving the UK´s Carbon neutrality goals and calculate how many trees they would have to plant to neutralise this year´s CO₂ emissions.

1. Which fuels or activities produce more CO₂?

QUESTIONS

Which of these activities produces more CO₂ emissions? (calculate them in kg of CO₂)

Driving 100 miles?

(Using 13 litres of petrol or 10 litres of diesel)

Petrol = 2.3 x 13, Diesel = 2.7 x 10 = 29.9 kg CO₂ for petrol and 27 kg for diesel

Using your LED TV for 5 hours a day during a week?

(A 50” LED TV uses 100 watts, to convert to kWh, multiply kW by number of hours)

5 x 7 hours at 100 watts = 3.5 kWh = 3.5 kg CO₂

Boiling water in the electric kettle for a family for a week?

(A kettle uses 1200 W and it takes 3 minutes to boil water and this is done 10 times a day – or does your family drink more tea?)

1200 x 10 x 3 x 7 = 210 minutes (3.5 hours) or 4.2 kWh x 0.283 = 1.19 kg CO₂

Heating the water with natural gas for a week of daily 5 minute showers?

(Heating 30 litre of water to 40°C uses 1.1 kWh in the form of gas, where emissions from natural gas are 0.2 kg CO₂/ kWh burned)

Heating the water for a week uses 7.7 kWh so 0.2 x 7.7 is 1.54 kg CO₂

Mobile phone usage for the family in a week. Assume the family does an average of two full charges a day.

(Typical phone charges at 0.015 kWh and takes 2 hours to charge fully)

4 x 7 x 0.005 = 0.014 kWh x 0.283 = 0.396 kg CO₂

Play station for 20 hours a week

(A Playstation 4 Pro uses 139 W)

139 x 20 = 2.4 kWh = 7.87 kg CO₂

2. How to quantify CO₂ emissions in terms of volume and mass?

QUESTIONS

How many cubic metres of CO₂ would 5000 kg CO₂ occupy? 2500 m³
A factory states that it releases 10 tons C per year (for its greenhouse gas emissions). How many m³ of CO₂e is this? 10,000 kg x 44/12 = 36,667 kg CO₂, so ½ x this is 18,333 m³
If UK car emissions released 3 GtC in a year and all the CO₂ remained in the atmosphere, by how much would the CO₂ concentration increase?

0.47 x 3 = 1.41 ppmv

Go to see last year´s UK Carbon emissions published by the government (Provisional GHG emissions). In 2019 it was 351.5 Mt CO₂ Considering the UK population is 63 million and world population is 8.3 billion, are our carbon emissions representative of global average emissions? ((World emissions in 2017 were 36 Bt)

63m/8.3b =0.81 % of population and CO₂ emissions are 351.5Mt/36000Mt = 0.98 %, so the population of the UK creates more CO₂than their population dictates, we produce 0.98/0.81 =1.21 times more CO₂ than the average world population

What is today´s CO₂ concentration at Mauna Loa (https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/)? How much has it increased since 1950? How much has it increased since the same month in 2018?

(figures for 2020) 500 ppm; increase of 100 ppm between 1950 and 2020 (in 70 years), that is a 0.7 ppm average increase; it has increased 4 ppm since 2018 (in 2 years), 2 ppm increase per year. The rate of increase of CO₂ concentration has increased since the 1950s.

Why has CO₂ concentration not decreased in 2020 if CO₂ emissions have dropped?

The lifetime of CO₂ means that it stays around in the atmosphere for many years and you will not see a decrease in the CO₂ from the year that you stop releasing it, it will gradually level off, that is why we need to reach our CO₂ emission peak as early as possible, to see the results a few years later.

3. Steps towards reaching carbon neutrality

QUESTIONS to discuss as a class

Do you think the UK is on its way to becoming a low carbon economy? Why do you think some countries like Estonia are way behind the UK and countries like Sweden are way ahead? (http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org/en/CO2-emissions is a useful information source)

Estonia still burns a lot of coal, hence its high CO₂ emissions. Sweden has 80 % of its electricity from nuclear and renewables

The UK has a goal of reaching Carbon neutrality by 2050- do you think we are on our way to reaching that?
What percentage of our anthropogenic (human) CO₂ emissions are absorbed by the oceans?

31 %

If a fully grown tree absorbs 22 kg of CO₂ per year and an acre of forest, 2.5 tons of Carbon, if we wanted to neutralize our country-wide annual emissions of 351.5Mt* CO₂, how many more trees or acres of forest would we need?**

351500/2.5 = 140600 acres. There are 60 million acres in the UK, so actually, only adding 0.234 % of the land as forests would do this!

*The latest government statistics on UK annual CO2 emissions (for 2019) was 351.5 Mt CO2 equivalent

**UK forests absorbed 21 million tonnes CO₂ in total in 2020, so they are working away continuously at helping to neutralise our emissions!

Carbon Footprint – Information Sheet

Post date 4 February 2021

1. Which fuels or activities produce more energy or CO₂?

What are fossil fuels made up of? Hydrocarbons with varying amounts of Carbon:

Coal contains large complex hydrocarbon molecules (with C:H:O ratios of ~85C:5H:10O)
Diesel is made up of alkanes containing 12 or more carbon atoms. (e.g. C₁₃H₂₈)
Petrol contains alkanes and cyclo-alkanes with between 5 and 12 Carbon atoms (with an average composition of C₈H₁₂ (octane))
The mass of one mole of pure Carbon is 12 g and the mass of one mole of CO₂ is 12 + (2×16) = 44 g (to convert from CO₂e to C multiply by 12/44)

What are the combustion reactions and how much energy and CO₂ do they produce?

1 kg of petrol burned yields about 47 MJ of energy (1litre, 34.2MJ)
1 kg of diesel burned yields about 46 MJ of energy (1litre, 38.6MJ) (diesel is denser than petrol and has more energy per litre)
1 kg of coal burned yields about 30 MJ of energy
1 kg of wood burned yields about 19 MJ of energy
1 kg of coal (containing 0.78 kg Carbon) will produce 2.4 kg of CO₂
1 litre of petrol (containing 0.63 kg of carbon) will produce 2.3 kg of CO₂
1 litre of diesel (containing 0.72 kg of carbon) will produce 2.7 kg of CO₂

The most up-to-date information on the make-up of the UK electricity grid (which is a mix of sources) can be found at RENSmart and the value in February 2021 was that 1 kWh produces 0.23314 kg CO₂. (kWh are calculated by multiplying kW by the number of hours). If you live in another country you could compare its CO₂ emissions per kWh electricity factor. Here is a good comparison site for many countries but with older data.

2. How to quantify CO₂ emissions in terms of volume and mass?

Volume and mass of CO₂

You will often hear about kg of CO₂ emitted, relating to the energy usage of different forms of transport, of a household, of a company, of a particular industry (like the cement industry) or of a country or a person.

From what we know about the combustion processes, their efficiency and our energy needs, we can use emission factors to calculate carbon footprints. We also know that a mole of any gas occupies 22.4 dm³ at ambient temperature. So we can express the emissions as a volume of CO₂. If we know how much of a gas is emitted and what the original concentration of that gas was in the atmosphere, we can see whether the emissions will change the concentration.

1 kg pure CO₂ occupies a volume of half a cubic metre (500 dm³ (or litres))
CO₂ emissions are often stated in GtC (10⁹ tonnes (or Gigatonnes) of Carbon)
Concentrations of CO₂ in the atmosphere are expressed in parts per million by volume (ppmv). 1 ppmv takes up 0.0001% of the volume of the atmosphere. Check out the Mauna Loa CO₂ measurement station in Hawai for today´s level.
A release of CO₂containing 1 GtC would increase the atmospheric CO₂ concentration by 0.47 ppmv if all the CO₂ remained in the atmosphere, BUT carbon sinks nearly balance out the sources
There was a CO₂ increase of 2.5 ± 0.1 ppmv between 2017 and 2018
The lifetime of CO₂ is 5 to 100 years

Don’t forget:

The mass of one mole of pure Carbon is 12 g and the mass of one mole of CO₂ is 12 + (2×16) = 44 g (to convert from CO₂eq to C multiply by 12/44)

Effects of the Covid-19 on the economy and thus CO2 emissions

Between 2019 and 2020 global CO₂ emissions decreased due to the COVID-19 Pandemic (in the region of 4 Gt CO₂ and the CO₂ emissions fell by 7 % in 2020, the largest ever decrease since the Second World War!)
A Carbon brief article suggests that in 2020 we reduced the annual increase in CO₂ concentrations by 0.32ppmv, putting it at 2.48ppm.
Note the difference between emissions of CO₂ and actual concentrations. The CO₂ already in the atmosphere from previous year´s emissions (it lasts up to one hundred years).

3. Steps towards carbon neutrality

This Figure shows the latest (calculated every 3 months) fuel source mix for the UK electricity supply. Go to: OFGEM. Note the elimination of coal and the increase in wind and solar energy.

The UK electricity supply now has well over 20 % from renewables. The UK is trying to get to below 100 g CO₂/ kWh by 2030 and we might achieve 5 % renewables by 2025. In late 2019 the electricity from British windfarms, solar panels and renewable biomass plants surpassed fossil fuels for the first time since the UK’s first power plant fired up in 1882.

We saw in section 1 that at RENSmart you can get the latest value for how many kg CO₂ are produced per kWh of electricity. Let´s compare other countries from the table at the bottom of this website. Sweden currently has an emission of 0.013 kg CO₂/ kWh (21 times lower CO₂ emissions per kWh!). In Sweden 80 % of electricity comes from nuclear and renewables (with 66 % from renewables). By the way, renewables do have an embedded energy (of up to 50 g CO₂/ kWh).

And look what these natural Carbon Sinks can do:

Between 1994 and 2007, the oceans absorbed 34 Gt CO₂ (31 % of what humans put into the atmosphere during that time)
One acre of new forest can sequester about 2.5 tons of carbon annually. Young trees absorb CO₂ at a rate of 6 kg per tree each year and after 10 years they absorb 22 kg of CO₂ per year. At that rate, they release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two human beings.

References

Electricity generation mix by quarter and fuel source (GB), Ofgem website

Latest “UK CO₂(eq) emissions due to electricity generation”, RENSmart website

Plunge in carbon emissions from lockdowns will not slow climate change, National Geographic, May 2020

Temporary reduction in daily global CO₂ emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement, Nature Climate Change, May 2020

Analysis: Half of UK’s electricity to be renewable by 2025, Carbon Brief, April 2019

Analysis: What impact will the coronavirus pandemic have on atmospheric CO_2,? Carbon brief, May 2020

Renewable electricity overtakes fossil fuels in UK for first time, The Guardian, October 2019

Oceans absorb almost 1/3 of global CO2 emissions, but at what cost?, World Economic Forum, March 2019

Global Carbon Atlas

Measuring Raindrops

Post date 22 January 2021

How big is a raindrop?

Collect data and analyse mode, mean and median, range, interquartile range and standard deviation

Introduction: There are many words and many descriptions for different types of rain: fine rain, heavy rain, pelting down, mizzling. In fact the BBC news magazine has an article entitled “Fifty words for rain”. But how big is a rain drop? Does the size vary depending upon the time of year or the type of rain?

Aim: To collect data, manipulate data and analyse data to calculate and compare the size of raindrops.

Equipment Required

A platform of area of about 0.5m² with edges.
Enough flour to cover the platform to a depth of about 3cm
An accurate measuring device, e.g. electronic sliding callipers.

Collecting the data

Cover the platform with the flour.
Place the platform in the rain for about 90 seconds, long enough for about 200 raindrops to hit the platform.
Use your measuring device to measure the diameter of the raindrops and record the data.

Manipulating, analysing, displaying and interpreting the data

There follows a number of suggestions of how the data can be used depending upon the ability of the students.

1. Calculate the mode, mean and median diameter of raindrop. Which is the most appropriate measure to use? Compare results from different groups.

2. Group the data into appropriate groups. Represent the data using histograms. Discuss whether it is appropriate to have all the groups the same size of vary the size of the groups. Compare the results from different groups. Compare data collected at different times of year if possible.

3. Calculate the spread of the data using range, interquartile range and standard deviation.

4. Discuss different methods of displaying the data. Is the data discrete or continuous? Should a bar chart or a histogram be used? This activity is ideal for discussing when a histogram should be used and the reasons for using a histogram.

5. Draw box plots to show the distribution of the data. Compare the spread of different data sets. What does this information tell us?

6. Write a report comparing the size of raindrops.

Extension

It may be appropriate for Advanced level students to explore the log-normal distribution as discussed in the accompanying article A Low Cost Experiment for determining Raindrop size Distribution.

Further Background Information

Making rainfall features fun: scientific activities for teaching children aged 5–12 years.

This lovely animation explores integration through Is it better to walk or run in the rain?

With thanks to Stephen Lyon at the National STEM centre

Does it Always Rain from Dark Clouds?

Post date 9 December 2020

A Level

Post date 26 November 2020

Selected Resources for each A Level Geography Specification

AQA AS/A Level Geography
OCR AS/A Level Geography
EdExcel AS/A Level Geography
WJEC/ Eduqas AS/A Level Geography

Geography

Independent Investigation

A guide to collecting weather data from the RGS student guide to the A Level independent investigation (Non-examined Assessment – NEA) and some further ideas.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y_UdPbThbtQ

Carbon and Water Cycles; Weather and Climate

Carbon, water, weather and climate a PowerPoint presentation focussing on recent changes to the carbon and water cycles, and how the two cycles interact.

Climate and Weather – an overview for A level, on the RGS website.

Climate change updates for A level geography – supporting the 2016 specifications.

Background information for teachers on the water cycle and the carbon cycle.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/embed/LBe4LTLOLvU

Deforestation, the water cycle and the carbon cycle in the Amazon.

Extensive information from the Cool Geography site: Case study of a tropical rainforest setting to illustrate and analyse key themes in water and carbon cycles and their relationship to environmental change and human activity and more generally on the carbon and water cycles.

Depressions, Anticyclones and Synoptic Charts

Weather Charts

Weather Systems

Mid-latitude weather systems video (with downloadable resources)

Depression based exercise where students draw contours of temperature, pressure and precipitation to work out what the system looks like: Student worksheets and notes for teachers. Simpler versions of the same exercise can be found on the KS3/4 web pages.

Use WOW data to track a cold front across the UK and work out its speed.

track a cold front across the UK and work out its speed practical excercises.

weather forecasting exercise

Shipping Forecast weather system excercise teachers notes and worksheet.

There are some more teaching resources covering weather systems and weather maps on the GCSE resources page.

Tropical Weather

Monsoons – a resource looking at the link between rainfall and food production in India. Teachers notes and Excel data sheet.

Some useful links about Super typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda

Extreme Weather

Extreme weather in the UK

Climate and Climate Change

Climate Change with sections on atmospheric structure, composition, solar radiation, climate feedback mechanisms and ozone depletion.

Other Weather

Clouds

A case study of orographic rainfall and Foehn winds in Scotland with images for students Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5.

An exercise using height/ temperature graphs to investigate atmospheric stability, lapse rates and cloud formation with a worksheet for students and an introductory Powerpoint.

Science

Articles from Physics Review and Science in School.

Maths

Investigate How big is a raindrop collect data and analyse mode, mean and median, range, interquartile range and standard deviation etc.

This lovely animation explores integration through Is it better to walk or run in the rain?.

A one hour tutorial on Climate variability, change and water resources from MetEd (requires free registration). The level is suitable for A level.

GCSE resources

Data Analysis

Post date 19 November 2020

Activities Using Weather and Climate Data

1. Temperature differences (current weather)

To answer this question you will need to visit the Met Office website.

(a) Go to the UK data pages and complete the table below for London and the nearest weather station to your school.

(b) Describe the differences in the weather.

(b) Now visit the world data pages and fill in the values for Adelaide in Australia (Mediterranean), Rothera in the British Antarctic Territory (Polar) and Singapore (Tropical).

	Temperature	Weather
London
Nearest UK location
Adelaide
Barrow
Singapore

2.Travel writer

You are a travel writer for a national newspaper. Your Editor has asked you to write the weather section for a special supplement the newspaper is publishing for readers planning a short-break holiday this weekend to various British towns and cities. The Editor wants you to cover Bournemouth, Aberdeen and Llangollen.

(a) Consult the forecasts for Bournemouth, Aberdeen and Llangollen and click on ‘last 24 hours (below the forecast) to gain an idea of weather conditions over the past 24 hours. Write a paragraph describing the conditions at each of the stations.

(b) Now use the forecasts for the UK to see what the weather might be like for the next couple of days at each station. Write another paragraph describing the future weather conditions at each of the stations.

3. Climate zones

(a) Consult the Met Office pages and fill in the temperature information in the table below for each of the weather stations in the polar, temperate and tropical climatic zones. Select ‘last 24 hours’ and choose the same time of day for each location. You’ll find the latitude in ‘location details’ at the bottom of the page.

(b) Use the location details to record the latitude of each weather station and add these values to the table.

(c) Now use this data to draw a scattergraph, plotting latitude along the horizontal axis, allowing for locations in both the northern and southern hemispheres along the same axis. Then add temperature on the vertical axis, remembering to allow for negative values on your vertical axis.

(d) Describe the general pattern that your scattergraph shows.

(e) Suggest reasons to explain this pattern.

Location	Latitude	Temperature
Kevo (Finland)
Stockholm/Bromma (Sweden)
Riga (Latvia)
Brno (Czech Republic)
Milano/Linate (Italy)
Lisboa/Gago Coutinho (Portugal)
Cairo International (Egypt)
Eldoret International Airport (Kenya)
Thabazimbi (South Africa)
Maputo/Mavalane (Mozambique)
Harare (Zimbabwe)
Kano (Niger)
Seeb (Oman)
Peshawar (Pakistan)
New Delhi Safdarjung (India)
Bishkek International (Krygyzstan)
Bejing International (China)
Bangkok (Thailand)
Jakarta International (Indonesia)
Adelaide International (Australia)
Paraparaumu (New Zealand)
Ulaanbaatar International (Mongolia)
Vunisea (Fiji)
Barrow (USA)
Ukiivit (Greenland)
Houston George Bush Intercontinental (USA)
Salt Lake City (USA)
Puebla Pue. (Mexico)
Caracas-Maiquetia International (Venezuela)
Manaus International (Brazil)
Carrasco (Uruguay)
Rio Gallegos International (Argentina)

Web page reproduced with the kind permission of the Met Office

Rainforest Deforestation the Carbon and Water Cycles

Post date 10 November 2020

This news item from NASA relates to this animation, as does this Nature Communication from October 2020.

Suggested learning activities:

Data and GIS exercise for A Level students

Explore leaf area, evapotranspiration and temperature data using various statistical techniques to explore the relationship between deforestation and weather on this resource on the RGS website.

Activity 1:
Ask students to write a voiceover for the film, demonstrating their understanding of the concepts involved.

Activity 2:
Complete this sentence based on the film:
When rainforests are deforested, places downwind are left with more/ less/ the same amount of rainfall and greater/ less/ the same amount of flood risk.

Activity 3:
Look at www.globalforestwatch.org/map and identify a Tropical region which has experienced deforestation in the last decade.
Look at earth.nullschool.net. What is the prevailing wind direction in that region?
Using www.google.com/maps, write a paragraph explaining how you think the water cycle has been affected by deforestation for a place downwind from the rainforest region you identified.

Activity 4:
Having watched the animation, use https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map , http://earth.nullschool.net and https://www.google.com/maps to write a paragraph explaining how you think the water cycle has been affected by deforestation for a specific place downwind and/ or downriver from a rainforest region.

Activity 5:
Having watched the animation, read these articles from Nature and NASA (noting that this predates the Nature article), NASA (2019), Geography Review (p22 – 25) and Carbon Brief.
Summarise the impact of tropical deforestation on the carbon and water cycles.

More information about the water cycle and climate change and the water cycle and an excellent summary from Cool Geography.

Using Tree Rings for Past Weather and Climate

Post date 10 November 2020

Using tree rings to teach weather, climate, past climate change, proxy climate records, correlation, photosynthesis, regression, the carbon cycle, isotopes and more

On the BBC news: the research from Swansea University that supports these resources.

1) Show the Film

2) Play the Game

Trees can tell stories about past climates. Scientists can decode the pattern of a tree’s growth rings to learn which years were warm or cool, and which were wet or dry. Scientists combine the ring patterns in living trees with wood from trees that lived long ago, such as the wood found in old logs, wooden furniture, buildings like log cabins, and wooden ships, in order to build a longer historical record of climate than the lifespan of a single tree can provide.

You can decode tree ring data to learn about past climates using the simulation above. Line up tree ring patterns to reveal temperatures in the past. The simulation has two versions. The standard version is the best place to start. The custom version for schools in the United Kingdom was created to go along with a specific curriculum. It has a longer timeline and includes information about some historical events.

The process scientists use to build a climate history timeline has an extra step that, for the sake of simplicity, is not represented in this simulation. When scientists decode long climate records from tree ring patterns, they don’t physically line up the tree core samples next to each other. Instead, they make graphs called skeleton plots for each sample. They combine the skeleton plots from many samples to build a climate history timeline.

Data source for this simulation
The tree ring data in this simulation is from oak trees in southern England. The data, from the UK Oak Project, was collected from living trees, logs in bogs, beams and rafters in old buildings, old wooden furniture, and wall paintings in a farmhouse dating back to 1592. One sample came from the windlass – the wooden crank used to raise and lower a castle’s gate – of the Byward Tower in the Tower of London.

Collect tree ring samples, align the samples to create a 300 year record and see what weather and climate events emerge here.

Alternatively, use the simple paper-strip version from UCAR.

3) Choose the Relevant Teaching Resource

Resource	Subject	Suggested age range
The Difference between Weather and Climate Teachers’ notes and Worksheet.	Geography	11-14 (KS3)
The impact of volcanoes on climate Teachers’ notes and Worksheet.	Geography	11-14 (KS3)
Weather detective – the weather of 1826 Teachers’ notes and Worksheet.	Geography	11-14 (KS3)
Past Climate Change Teachers’ notes and Worksheet.	Geography	11-14 (KS3)
Correlating Tree Rings and Temperature Notes for Teachers and worksheets A , B, C, D and E and/ or spreadsheets A , B, C, D and E	Geography	11-16 (KS3/4)
Solar, Volcanic and Anthropogenic Climate Change Teachers’ notes and Worksheet	Geography	14-16 (KS4)
The Factors Affecting Photosynthesis Teachers’ notes and Worksheet	Biology	11-14 (KS3)

Classroom posters: weather and history recorded by a sample of wood from The Tower of London and The Vyne

Guide to Calibration and Natural Climate Proxies (advanced).

Dating the Past Using Stable Isotopes in Tree Rings

Past Summer Rainfall from Oxygen Isotopes in Tree Rings

Unless otherwise stated, all temperature data used in the resources are based on the dataset published in this paper: European summer temperatures since Roman times. More information about the technique can be found in this paper: Oxygen stable isotope ratios from British oak tree-rings provide a strong and consistent record of past changes in summer rainfall.

Extension Activities

Symbiosa – an art installation in Paris which linked real-time tree growth with the current environmental conditions.

More Past Climate Teaching Resources

Resources exploring the solar, volcanic, orbital and greenhouse gas causes of climate change over the last 2.6 million years.

Resources based on 3D printed sections of the Central England Temperature record.

Climate change negotiations resource for schools.

Past Climate Change from Weather and Climate: a Teachers’ Guide

Watching the Earth

Post date 9 November 2020

Fig 2: Satellite floating over the earth.

A series of downloadable lesson plans and teacher’s notes for science GCSE based on using the Gravity field and steady state Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite (GOCE).

Produced by Julie Boyle

Teachers’ Notes

Lesson One

Lesson Two
Introduction to GOCE

Lesson Three
Freefall

Lesson Four
Pendulum

Lesson Five
Hooke’s Law

Lesson Six
Newton’s Law Pt 1

Lesson Six
Newton’s law Pt 2

Lesson Seven
Altimetry

Lesson Seven
Excel Spreadsheet

Lesson Eight
Doppler Effect

Lesson Nine
Bottom Effect

Lesson Ten
Interferometry

Lesson Eleven
Atmospheric Sounding

Lesson Twelve
Fluid Dynamics

Satellites

Post date 9 November 2020

Artificial satellites

Key Stage 3, Science
GRAVITY AND SPACE

Prior Learning

The solar system is held in place by gravitational attraction and that natural satellites orbit.

Objectives

By the end of the lesson:

All students will know that:

satellites orbit objects that are much larger than themselves
natural and artificial satellites are kept in orbit by gravitational attraction
there are two main types of orbit

Most students will know that:

the two types of orbit are geostationary and polar orbiting
artificial satellites have a variety of uses, including meteorological, communications, scientific research, telescopes.

Some students will know that:

details about specific artificial satellite
examples of information that can be gained from satellites

Lesson plan

Starter

Challenge the students to answer the question: “How many things can you think of that we use artificial satellites for?”.

Satellite examples could include weather observations (monitoring weather and climate), TV broadcast, telecommunications, scientific research, environmental monitoring, surveillance (spying!/military intelligence), astronomical (telescopes and measurements from outside our atmosphere), navigational (e.g.GPS)

Lesson resources

PDF document containing the starter question

Main Body

Recap to allow students to remember what a satellite is.

Get students to try making their own satellite using the template supplied.

Meteorology from space
Satellites have been used for weather observations since 1959 when Vanguard 2 was launched.

Types of Satellite
There are two types of satellite orbit; polar orbiting and geostationary. Both are useful for meteorology and other things.

Make your own satellite

Artificial satellites slideshow.

Plenary

Get students to use the artificial satellites worksheet to demonstrate they understand the differences between polar orbiting and geostationary satellites.

Artificial satellites worksheet

Web page reproduced with the kind permission of the Met Office.

Have a look at our ‘Watching the Earth‘ resources.

Chemistry curriculum links: AQA GCSE

Chemistry in the activity

1. Which fuels or activities produce more CO₂?

2. How to quantify CO₂ emissions in terms of volume and mass?

3. Steps towards reaching carbon neutrality

1. Which fuels or activities produce more energy or CO₂?

2. How to quantify CO₂ emissions in terms of volume and mass?

3. Steps towards carbon neutrality

References

Latest “UK CO₂(eq) emissions due to electricity generation”, RENSmart website

How big is a raindrop?