Lesson A4 - Carbon cycle: land is part of the climate system

MAIN SUBJECTS

Natural sciences / Physics / Chemistry

DURATION

Preparation: 15min

Activity: 1h15

AGE GROUP

12-15 years

LEARNING OUTCOMES

While playing a board game about the carbon cycle, students will learn that:

Carbon circulates in the carbon cycle and that human activities disturb it.
Soil is an important carbon reservoir.
Fossil fuels are important underground reservoirs.
Fossil fuels need a lot of time to be formed (several millions of years).
Their use releases CO2, previously stored in the soil, into the atmosphere.
Through photosynthesis, plants capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in organic matter.
Through fermentation, respiration and decomposition of organic matter, land vegetation releases CO2 into the atmosphere.
Vegetation and land play a key role in the carbon cycle.