Composition of Earth’s Atmosphere

Overview

  • What is it about the Earth’s atmosphere that makes Earth habitable?
  • In this lesson, students become NASA junior atmospheric chemists and explore the composition of Earth’s atmospheric gases through scientific inquiry. As students work collaboratively changing the levels of atmospheric gases, they make and test hypotheses to discover the atmospheric conditions that make Earth habitable and what changes would make the earth uninhabitable.
  • This is an excellent, engaging lesson that will give students a solid foundation for future lessons about greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and/or biogeochemical cycles in ecosystems.
  • The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrobiology Institute (NAI) developed ASTROVENTURE. NASA established the Astrobiology Institute in 1998 as an innovative way to develop the field of astrobiology and provide a scientific framework for flight missions. Astrobiology is the study of the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.

Lesson Concept:

The Earth’s atmosphere has an ozone layer and the necessary amounts of carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, and liquid water to make life possible.

CA 6thGradeScience Standards:

5.0 Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.
5b. Over time, matter is transferred from one organism to others in the food web, and between organisms and the physical environment.

NGSS Alignment:

MS-ESS3-5.Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. [Clarification Statement: Examples of factors include human activities (such as fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and agricultural activity) and natural processes (such as changes in incoming solar radiation or volcanic activity). Examples of evidence can include tables, graphs, and maps of global and regional temperatures, atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and the rates of human activities. Emphasis is on the major role that human activities play in causing the rise in global temperatures.]

Through Astroventure (and its extension activities), students learn about greenhouse gases including CO2, methane, and hydro-carbons in general and how they absorb heat and affect global temperatures. Astroventure is a great, engaging learning opportunity to begin learning about the rising global temperatures.

Crosscutting Concepts:Cause and Effect, Stability and Change

Science Practices:Using models, Constructing explanations

ISTE Standards

  • Creativity and Innovation

Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues

  • Research and Information Fluency:

Plan strategies to guide inquiry

  • Digital Citizenship

Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.

Cyberinfrastructure Tools:

Lesson Activities

ENGAGE (30 minutes)

This warm up activity takes place the day before or prior to the
ASTROVENTURE web page Exploration:
Teacher Does / Student Does
(5 minutes)Teacher asks: What is it about the Earththat makes life (on Earth) possible?
Teacher directs students to Pair/Share with their elbow partners. / Student pairs discuss: What is about the earth that makes life possible? (5 minutes.)
(10 minutes.)Teacher asks table groups to discuss and make a list of their ideas. / Table groups discuss and make a list of their ideas. (7 minutes.)
(15 minutes.) Teacher asks Table groups to share “Novel Ideas” style (First table group reads entire list- teacher records their ideas on Chart paper or using Wall Wisher and computer projector. The next table group shares any ideas on their list not already recorded. Continue until all table groups have shared.)
Teacher Charts the responses. / Table Groups share their pair’s discussion and make a table list of their best ideas to answer the prompt. (7 minutes.)
Table Groups share their lists with whole class. (13 minutes.)

EXPLORE (Two, 50 minute sessions)

We suggest two sessions with the ASTROVENTURE simulation so that students do not rush through the simulation. Taking good notes and using the resources within the simulation- writing in the Astro Journal, reading the What Scientist Say and the Astro-Facts and making notes in their own Journal-Note Taking guide.
Teacher Does / Student Does
(5 minutes.) Using the chart created in the Engage, the Teacher asks:
What is it about Earth’s atmosphere that makes life possible?
How could a change in its atmosphere affect life?
Teacher will call on a few students to get general comments. / Students view chart and respond to the second question, “How could a change in its atmosphere affect life?” (5 minutes.)
(3 minutes.) Distribute ASTROVENTUREJournal Note Taking Guide and explain how the notetaking guide should be used (Project with Document camera or on overhead projector.) / Students view and discuss the Journal Note Taking Guide. (3 minutes.)
(5 minutes, or as needed.) Provide access to the computers (It is desirable that students pairs each work with one computer to foster collaboration between the students.) / Students arrange themselves at computer stations or desks in order to be able to share a computer. (5 minutes, or as needed.)
(7 minutes.)
Direct students to the ASTROVENTURE web site. Allow students to view and read the introduction and explore the site for five minutes. **Teacher should demonstrate how to Enlarge-ZOOM- the size of the webpage screen to provide students a better-sized visual found in the View section of the File Toolbar. / Students go to the ASTROVENTURE Website. They view and read the introduction and explore the site for five minutes. (7 minutes.)
Students can enlarge the image on their computers.
(10 minutes.)Teacher selects one of the gas/elements on ASTROVENTUREand demonstrates how to type notes into the website Astro-journal and how to copy notes onto the paper Journal Note Taking Guide.
Point out What the Scientist Say feature (helps provide correct notes and the Astro-Facts with more information.) / Students observe how to take notes in their Journal Note Taking Guide from the webpage. (5 minutes.)
(20 minutes.)
Ask students to begin their exploration of the ASTROVENTURE activity.
Teacher should circulate among students to spot check that students are carefully taking notes and accessing all the resources in the simulation. / Student pairs explore the activity and take notes in their Journal Note Taking Guide of their observations and scientific explanations. (20 minutes.)
SECOND DAY WITH THE SIMULATION
Ask students to continue the simulation activity completing their Journal Note Taking Guide notes. (30 minutes) / Students to continue the simulation activity completing their Journal Note Taking Guide notes. (30 minutes)
(Have students log off or lower lid on laptops.)
Teacher asks table groups what they have found from exploring the website.
(20 minutes.)
Ask for specific information relating to the most advantageous levels of the five elements
Ask students what conclusions they can draw about life on earth from their discoveries using the simulation.
Chart the student responses. / Students log off or close lids to laptops.)
Students use notes from Journal Note Taking Guide to explain what they found out through the exploration. (20 minutes.)
Note: Students should respond with answers that relate to Water Vapor, Carbon dioxide, Ozone, Oxygen and Nitrogen.

EXPLAIN (60 Minutes)

Teacher Does / Student Does
Teacher will prompt the students to re-engage their recently acquired knowledge about the atmosphere and what role the balance of elements plays in making the Earth habitable. (This could be an opportunity for students to practice word processing if computers are available or it could be a handwritten assignment.)
(60 minutes.) / Individual students write one page reflection s to explain the importance of the atmospheric gases (elements) to sustain life on Earth and what role the balance of gasses plays in making the Earth habitable. (60 minutes.)

EXTEND

Teacher Does / Student Does
As time permits, teachers may want to use the following EXTEND activities. See the Extend Lesson Activities document posted in the Support Video Links, Web links, etc., section of the Lesson for complete details and directions. It is recommended the activities be done in the order shown below.
Activity 1:
Teacher led demonstration with a lamp to demonstrate the relationship between light and heat. / Activity 1:
Students investigate the relationship between light and heat in a teacher-led demonstration, and they learn academic vocabulary: visible photons, infrared photons, radiation.
Activity 2:
Teacher has students go to
to observe how visible light from the Sun heats the Earth’s surface. / Activity 2:
Students use an interactive web site to investigate how the light (visible photons) from the Sun heats the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. They also predict which gases absorb heat (infrared photons) and be able to test out their hypotheses
Activity 3:
Teacher has students go to
to do more investigations related to heating of the Earth from Sun light. / Activity 3:
Students use the interactive website to observe visible photons from the Sun and the infrared photons from the Earth’s surface and record the temperature in a chart.
Then they predict what will happen to the temperature if a “glass pane” was placed above the Earth. They continue to investigate the relationship between glass panes and heat. They can see visually how the glass panes trap the infrared photons.
Activity 4:
Teacher has students go to

to study the effects of greenhouse gasses on the earth’s temperature. / Activity 4:
Students continue on the same website to investigate the effects of greenhouse gases on the Earth’s temperature. Here they make the connections between the previous activities and the greenhouse effect.
Activity 5:
Teacher provides a lab for students to be able to compare how the temperature of a planet with greenhouse gases compares to one without greenhouse gases / Activity 5:
Students conduct a science experiment about how the temperature of a planet with greenhouse gases compares to one without greenhouse gases.
They make a model of how greenhouse gases work with a glass jars. They use thermometers or SPARK probes.

EVALUATE

Teacher Does / Student Does
Final Day of this Lesson- Time may vary based on the approach to using web based presentation tools.
(40 Minutes)Teacher provides this prompt to the students:
Now that you know how the Earth’s atmosphere makes life possible, describe at least two changes to Earth’s atmosphere that would make Earth uninhabitable. Explain why the changes would make it uninhabitable / Students in pairs or triads respond to prompt on chart paper or using one of the presentation formats suggested by the lesson authors:
Popplet
Pixie
PowerPoint
Students will use their Journal Note Taking Guides and the two charts developed in the Engage and Explore activities prepare their presentation.
(20 Minutes.) Teacher asks student groups to present their response to the prompt to the whole class. / Student audience views presentations by student groups. Students ask questions and reflect on ideas presented by each group.

Teacher Contributors:

June Richards, Kay O'Hanlon, Linda Schultz, Tim Bennett

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CyberQUEST TechQuest Lesson: Astro-Venture (last updated 09/15/2015)