The Greenhouse Effect: Role-Playing Game
As part of The Climate in Our Hands – Ocean and Cryosphere, the activity “The Greenhouse Effect: Role-Playing Game” engages students in a physical and collaborative simulation. By acting out the roles of infrared radiation, greenhouse gases, and fossil fuels, students visualize how greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming.
What is this activity about?
This dynamic role-playing game enables students to physically represent the greenhouse effect. Through two rounds of a game of catch, they observe how increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reduces the ability of infrared radiation (heat) to escape into space. This experience offers a concrete, embodied understanding of how human activities contribute to climate change.
Key Information
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Subjects: Physical education (for students under 12 years)
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Duration: 1 hour (plus 5 + 15 minutes for preparation)
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Teaching method: Role-playing game and guided discussion
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Key learning outcomes
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Understand how greenhouse gases trap infrared radiation
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Visualize the connection between fossil fuel combustion and increased greenhouse gas concentration
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Recognize the relationship between greenhouse gas accumulation and global warming
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Develop abilities in observation, analysis, and scientific reasoning
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Learn that the greenhouse effect is natural and essential for life but problematic when intensified by human activities
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How does it work?
Preparation (5 + 15 min)
Ask students to bring T-shirts (or prepare vests) in three colors: → Red for HEAT (infrared radiation) → Blue for GHG (greenhouse gases) → Black for FF (fossil fuels)
Draw three zones on the floor: EARTH, ATMOSPHERE, and SPACE.
Introduction (10 min)
Explain that warm objects emit infrared radiation, including the Earth warmed by the Sun. → Infrared radiation is invisible but can be felt as heat. → Greenhouse gases absorb part of this radiation, preventing it from escaping into space.
Activity (30 min)
First round:
Students are divided into three groups: HEAT, GHG, and FF (fossil fuels).
FF students stay seated (fossil fuels underground).
GHG students spread across the ATMOSPHERE zone.
HEAT students try to cross from EARTH to SPACE without being caught.
If a HEAT student is caught by a GHG, they must return to EARTH and count to five before trying again.
Second round:
The teacher (playing the role of humanity) "extracts" FF students, turning them into additional GHG students.
Play another round: → With more GHG students, fewer HEAT students manage to escape to SPACE.
After the game:
Students draw and label the game, explaining the analogy.
Why use this activity in your classroom?
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Engaging and interactive: Students actively embody scientific concepts
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Concrete: Physical movement makes an invisible phenomenon understandable
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Scientific thinking: Encourages linking actions (fossil fuel use) with consequences (warming)
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Clarifies misunderstandings: Reinforces that the greenhouse effect is natural but amplified by humans
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Adaptable: Suitable for younger audiences through playful learning
