Soil & global warming
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.cfm?DocID=220
A lesson plan for grade 6 Science
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In this Science Update, students explore how dirt might help stop global warming. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the chief cause of the greenhouse effect. Senior scientist Jim Amonette of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory suggests that farmers or agricultural managers can do small things to increase the amount of carbon retained by their soil. By making the soil less acidic, changing irrigation patterns, and promoting the formation of certain minerals, farmers can make a big difference in the amount of carbon gases that are kept under ground. Amonette also discusses the activity of tyrosinase, an enzyme found in soils that’s critical to carbon absorption. Science NetLinks provides a link to the audio file, a written transcript, and questions to engage students in a discussion about how soils can help remove gases from the atmosphere, how tyrosinase influence this research, and how this research might influence farmers’ practices. This lesson also contains links to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, and the EPA’s Global Warming Kids Site.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 6
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
- Explain observations.
- Make inferences and predictions.
- Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
- Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
- Communicate findings.
- Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
- Objective 1.09: Use technologies and information systems to:
- Research.
- Gather and analyze data
- Visualize data.
- Disseminate findings to others.
- Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
- Scientific text.
- Articles.
- Events in the popular press.
- Goal 3: The learner will build an understanding of the geological cycles, forces, processes, and agents which shape the lithosphere.
- Objective 3.06: Evaluate ways in which human activities have affected Earth's pedosphere and the measures taken to control the impact:
- Vegetative cover.
- Agriculture.
- Land use.
- Nutrient balance.
- Soil as a vector.
- Objective 3.07: Assess the use of technology and information systems in monitoring lithospheric phenomenon.
- Objective 3.08: Conclude that the good health of environments and organisms requires:
- Monitoring of the pedosphere.
- Taking steps to maintain soil quality.
- Stewardship.
- Objective 3.06: Evaluate ways in which human activities have affected Earth's pedosphere and the measures taken to control the impact:
