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Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Topic

  • Environmental Science
  • Climate Change
  • Earth Science
  • Atmosphere
  • Math & Computational Skills
  • Graph Interpretation

Resource Type

  • Activities
  • Data Points

Level

High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IBCollege
Used In
1 BioInteractive Playlists
Saved By
45 Users
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View in Spanish

Description

This activity analyzes a figure showing the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from 1958 to 2016.

Records from polar ice cores show that the natural range of atmospheric CO2 over the last 800,000 years was 170 to 300 parts per million (ppm) by volume. In the early 20th century, scientists began to suspect that CO2 in the atmosphere might be increasing beyond this range due to human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and making changes in land use. At that time, however, there were no clear measurements of this trend. In 1958, Charles David Keeling began measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the big island of Hawaii. This figure is a graph of the observatory’s measurements over time, which is now called the Keeling Curve.

The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information.

 

Student Learning Targets

  • Analyze and interpret data from a scientific figure. 
  • Describe recent patterns and trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
     

Estimated Time

Within one 50-minute class period.

Key Terms

global warming, greenhouse gas, Keeling Curve, line graph

Primary Literature

“The Keeling Curve,” Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, accessed February 10, 2019, https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/. 

Terms of Use

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

Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)

PDF files meet criteria.

Version History

Date Published 01.04.16
Date Updated 01.04.16

NGSS (2013)

HS-LS2-5, HS-ESS2-6, HS-ESS3-5; SEP2, SEP4, SEP5

AP Biology (2019)

SYI-2.B; SP1, SP4

IB Biology (2016)

C.3

AP Environmental Science (2020)

Topic(s): 1.4, 5.2, 6.5, 7.4, 9.4
Learning Objectives & Practices: ERT-1.D, EIN-2.B, ENG-3.E, STB-2.D, STB-4.E, SP2, SP4, SP6

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

6.1

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9-12.7
Math.S-ID.3, Math.S-IC.1; MP2, MP5

Vision and Change (2009)

CC5; DP2, DP3

Materials

Image (JPG) 191 KB
Educator Materials (PDF) 1 MB
Student Handout (PDF) 578 KB
Educator Materials - Español (PDF) 392 KB
Student Handout - Español (PDF) 339 KB

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This Resource Appears in the Following Playlists

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