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Ocean Acidification

Image from the activity

Topic

  • Environmental Science
  • Human Population & Impacts
  • Climate Change
  • Scientific Skills & Literacy
  • Visual & Physical Models

Resource Type

  • Activities
  • Labs & Demos

Level

High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IB
Used In
1 BioInteractive Playlists
Saved By
58 Users
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Description

In this hands-on activity, students simulate the effects of decreasing pH caused by rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Human activity is causing the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide to increase. In addition to its role as a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide reacts with water to form a weak acid called carbonic acid, which lowers the pH of seawater. In this activity, students simulate this process by blowing through a straw into a beaker of artificial seawater and measuring the change in pH. Using the provided graph, they determine the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration that would produce the same pH change in the oceans. Finally, students determine how many years it would take to reach this concentration at the current rate of emissions.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.

Student Learning Targets

  • ​​​​​​Explain the role of atmospheric CO2 in ocean acidification.
  • Collect, analyze, and interpret data to draw conclusions.
  • Use models of atmospheric CO2 concentrations to make predictions on the impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems.

Estimated Time

One to two 50-minute class periods.

Key Terms

acidification, alkalinity, calcium carbonate, chemical reaction, concentration, exoskeleton, food web, marine biology, oceanography, pH, soluble

Primary Literature

Caldeira, Ken, and Michael E. Wickett. “Anthropogenic Carbon and Ocean pH.” Nature 425, 6956 (2003): 365. https://doi.org/10.1038/425365a.

Fine, Maoz, and Dan Tchernov. “Scleractinian Coral Species Survive and Recover from Decalcification.” Science 315, 5820 (2007): 1811. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1137094. To access this article, set up a free AAAS account.

Terms of Use

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Version History

Date Published 03.28.16
Date Updated 04.30.20

NGSS (2013)

HS-LS2-2, HS-ESS3-6; SEP2, SEP6

AP Biology (2019)

SYI-1.H, SYI-2.B; SP1, SP2, SP3

IB Biology (2016)

4.4

AP Environmental Science (2020)

Topic(s): 1.1, 9.7
Learning Objectives & Practices: ERT-1.A, STB-4.H, SP1, SP2, SP4

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

7.2

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9–12.3, ELA.RST.9–12.7
Math.S-ID.3; MP1

Vision and Change (2009)

CC5; DP2, DP3

Materials

Resource Google Folder (link)
Educator Materials (PDF) 490 KB
Student Handout (PDF) 3 MB
Poster (JPG) 963 KB
Graphs (PDF) 179 KB

Additional Materials

  • beaker or cup to hold 100 ml of “seawater”
  • straw
  • blue or red sticky dots (or colored pencils)
  • timer
  • data-collection graphs (if not using poster)

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This Resource Appears in the Following Playlists

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