Carbon Tree

Hosted by OSOS , contributed by Anonymous (not verified) on 16 March 2018

As the world is facing serious challenges caused by the continuously increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we are required to understand and become aware of our possibilities of trying to reduce the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases and especially carbon dioxide (CO2). It has been estimated that the increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions will drastically speed up global warming, which clearly influences the climate, the biodiversity, and the ecosystems of our planet. Global warming has already been causing, for example, sea level rise and extreme weather conditions in different parts of the world.

tree

This activity aims at raising pupils' awareness on the process of carbon fixation in forests. However, before starting, pupils should be introduced to the process of photosynthesis and the importance of forests in the process of reducing the atmospheric concentration of CO2. In this activity, pupils will learn about the impact of climate change and global warming on the carbon cycle of forests, what is meant by the term carbon footprint, and how the carbon footprint can be reduced.

The activity consists of four parts of which all include detailed research questions and instructions. However, the activity can be modified according to the pupils' background knowledge and skills. The specific instructions can be left out in order for pupils to design and construct their own research questions.

In the first part, Activity 1., pupils use the Carbon Tree simulation (http://www.carbontree.fi/) to study how carbon dioxide (CO2) is fixed in trees (and vegetation) through the process of photosynthesis and how the time of the year and the different weather conditions influence the rate at which CO2 is fixed.
In the second part of the activity, Activity 2., pupils are asked to calculate the energy required to charge their cell phone battery and the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the charging of the battery. An example of the calculations is provided.
In the third part of the activity, Activity 3., pupils will present their results of the calculations of Activity 2. Pupils are also asked to calculate the total carbon dioxide emissions caused by charging the cell phones of each pupil in the classroom. The term carbon footprint can be introduced and discussed.
The fourth part of the activity, Activity 4., involves working in groups and in collaboration with pupils' families: First, pupils are asked to investigate the use of electronic devices at home for one week. Pupils' families can also be asked to collaborate and collect data on their use of electronic devices. At school, pupils will work with the collected data and calculate the estimated amount of energy consumed by using electronic devices for one week (or one year). The energy consumption is then converted into an estimation of the amount CO2 produced per one week (or one year) per family. The result is then used to draw conclusions on how the carbon footprint can be reduced by changing the daily habits of using electronic devices. Finally, the project can be presented to the families and the other pupils of the school. The activity can be further expanded for example by interviewing the audience (pupils and teachers of the school) about their use of electronic devices and their estimations of their own carbon footprint.

Resources needed

Computer and internet access
The application used in this activity is available on the Carbon Tree website: http://www.carbontree.fi/. The website is available in English, Finnish, Swedish, and Chinese.

RRI principles: Carbon tree

One of the key aspects of OSOS is the inclusion of RRI — Responsible Research and Innovation — principles (more information at RRI-Tools.eu). This is how this Accelerator fits into the RRI model:

Governance	This accelerator includes collaboration with pupils’ families and at the end of the project, pupils will also share their learning experience with the rest of the school. The main idea is to investigate the use of electronic devices at home together with other family members to promote awareness on the carbon emissions caused by electronic devices and to make shared plans on how to reduce the carbon footprint by changing the daily habits.
Public Engagement	This activity aims at solving a problem at a grass root level and to communicate the collected information to the rest of the school in order to promote awareness on the carbon footprint and how to reduce it.
Gender equality	Pupils will be working in gender-balanced teams. When proposing ways of how to reduce the carbon footprint, pupils could reflect on gender equality in terms of using electric devices. Are there differences between genders in the usage of electronic devices? Why or why not?
Science Education	Science and the scientific method is used as the starting point for promoting awareness on the carbon footprint. The aim is to highlight the connection between our daily lives, the carbon emissions and the consequences caused by the emissions.
Ethics	This activity aims to help students become aware of their possibilities of reducing their own carbon footprint by changing the way they use electronic devices. The aim is also to highlight the importance of taking action to fight climate change. The results of the project are presented to the whole school and students families to promote awareness outside of the classroom.
Open Access	Students will share their learning experience and results with their peers and families. However, the choice of device used for reporting and sharing information is to be decided by the students with the guidance from the teacher.

The activity is based on Hiilipuu activity produced by Taina Ruuskanen (HIILI project; http://www.carbontree.fi/fi/mittaa-itse). The activity is adapted and translated in English for the OSOS by the coordinator of Finland (Uni. of Turku)

Learning Objectives

Carbon fixation, Carbon sink, Climate change, Carbon cycle

Teacher: Anonymous (not verified)

Age group

all ages

Students participating

Feel

Addressed challenge: Carbon dioxide is one of the most crucial greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which is mainly caused by the human lifestyle, e.g. the increased use of fossil fuels. Forests are able to slow down the increasing of the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere by carbon fixation.

However, the changing climate and the increasing levels of carbon dioxide, on the other hand, also have an influence on the rate of the carbon fixation and thus also the carbon cycle of forests. In this activity, you will use the Carbon Tree simulation (http://www.carbontree.fi/) to familiarize yourself with the phenomenon of carbon fixation. The white dots of the Carbon Tree simulation illustrate the carbon dioxide molecules and the exchange of the carbon dioxide is expressed as a moving stream of these white dots. A positive number at the bottom of the page (carbon flow) indicates that the tree is absorbing the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the negative number implies that the tree is releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

co2

Activity 1

Complete the following assignments by using the Carbon Tree simulation:

Assignment 1. How does the climate of different seasons affect the rate of carbon fixation and the movement of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere? Make observations by changing the observation time from Christmas Eve to the Midsummer and finally to your own birthday. Write down the carbon flow of each day measured at 12 o'clock and draw conclusions based on your data. What time of the year is the carbon flow the greatest?

Assignment 2. What parts of the pine tree are used in the respiration process? The information needed to answer the question can be found in the articles section of the website.

Assignment 3. Which factors (other than the time of the year) influence the rate of carbon fixation of trees and how does the change in these factors influence the photosynthesis? To answer these questions, you should change the variables in the simulation and observe the changes in the rate of the carbon fixation.

Assignment 4. What factors influence how much carbon dioxide the trees are releasing? To answer this, you should change the variables in the simulation and observe the changes influence the carbon flow. Based on their observations, pupils should be able to explain the phenomenon.

Assignment 5. Draw conclusions and describe the circumstances of when the net exchange rate of the carbon dioxide of a tree is at its highest. Change the numeric values for temperature, light, humidity of the ground, humidity of the air, and the amount of carbon dioxide in the air to make observations and to draw your conclusions.

In the next step of the activity, you will learn how to calculate the energy usage and the CO2 emissions of charging your own cell phone.

Imagine

Activity 2. Further research: Charging a mobile phone

Electricity can be produced in a variety of ways and all methods produce different amounts of carbon dioxide, i.e. they have a different carbon footprint. The electricity generation in Finland generates on average 220 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of produced energy.

The carbon dioxide emissions of charging a cell phone can be calculated based on the information on the battery of the cell phone. Most of the batteries include the information on the capacity of the battery in watt-hours (Wh). The amount of watt-hours on the cell phone battery expresses the required amount of energy needed per charging time.

Investigate the carbon footprint of charging your own cell phone by answering the following questions.
- Look at the battery of your cell phone:
1. Find battery capacity in watts. How much is it?

2. If your cell phone is charged every night from scratch to full (0% - 100%), how much energy does it require during a year?

3. How large is the carbon footprint caused by the use of electricity to charge the cell phone in a) a year? b) in one charging?

4. How long does it take for "the carbon tree" to absorb the carbon emissions of a single charge of a cell phone?

a) in the spring? b) in the summer? c) in the winter?

Example:

The capacity of the battery in the example cell phone is 8.09 Wh. If your cell phone is charged at least once a day, it will use about 3-kilowatt hours of energy in one year:

365 days * 8.09 Wh = 2953 Wh or about 3-kilowatt hours of energy/1 year

The average of CO2 emissions per one kilowatt-hour is approximately 220 g.

3 kWh produces therefore 660 g of CO2. If this amount is distributed to the period of 365 days, a one-day charge of the cell phone will produce approximately 1.8 g of CO2.

To answer question 4. pupils are asked to use the Carbon Tree simulation.

Activity 3. Present your results to your classmates!

Try to address the following questions:

What is the total energy consumption of charging your cell phone?
What large is the carbon footprint if you charge your cell phone every day for a year?
Were there differences in the carbon footprints of different cell phones?

Calculate the total amount of CO2 emissions (in grams) produced in a day/in a year by charging the cell phone of each pupil in your classroom.

Create

Activity 4.

The fourth part of the activity involves working in groups and in collaboration with your family at home.

Investigate the use of electronic devices at home for one week. Ask your family to collaborate and collect data with you.

After collecting the data for one week, bring your observations to school and calculate the estimated energy usage of using the electronic devices for a week and for a year. The calculated energy usage should then be converted into an estimation of the amount CO2 produced, or the carbon footprint (in grams), per one week/a year per family (see the previous cell phone example).

The results are used to draw conclusions on how large the carbon footprint of your family is based on the usage of electronic devices. Work in a group and discuss:

Were there any differences between the families? Why?
How are you able to reduce the carbon footprint?

Examples for calculating the energy usage for one year can be found here: http://ed.fnal.gov/ntep/f98/projects/nrel_energy_2/measurement.html.