Buckets of CO2

Instructions & Materials

Instructions

1. Explain to youth that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, along with other things like water vapor, methane, and other gases. When humans burn fossil fuels for energy use, like transportation, heating and cooling buildings, and watching TV, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. 
   
   
2. Explain that youth will calculate their carbon footprint, which is the amount of carbon dioxide they emit into the atmosphere by filling out the worksheet. Then they will learn how activities in their community can affect climate locally and globally. 
   
   
3. After youth fill out their worksheet, have them talk about what they learned about themselves. In what part of their lives do they use the most energy, and why? 
   
   
4. Fill a large bucket with water. Explain that this bucket of water represents Earth’s atmosphere. 
   
   
5. Hand out vials of food coloring to youth. Explain that the food coloring will represent the addition of carbon dioxide that humans add to our atmosphere. Naturally, Earth regulates the atmosphere pretty well, keeping it in balance, but human activity can rapidly change the atmosphere. 
   
   
6. One by one, have youth put food coloring into the bucket. The number of food coloring drops each adds to the bucket should equal the number on the bottom of their worksheet. If it is a large group, pick out an average number from the group and use that number for the example to prompt discussion. 
   
   
7. Discuss what they see. Would it be easy to remove all of the carbon dioxide (food coloring) they just added to the atmosphere? In comparison to the amount of water that is in the bucket, did your group add a lot of food coloring, or is there more water in the bucket than food coloring?

Discussion

There are a lot of naturally occurring greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. We should actually be happy that they are there. It helps Earth stay warm enough to keep animals and plants alive. Mars has almost no greenhouse gases and it is too cold for life to exist on that planet. Venus has a ‘runaway’ greenhouse effect, where it has way too many greenhouse gas particles in the atmosphere, and it is too hot for life to live on the planet. As Venus and Mars show, the composition of an atmosphere can certainly affect the planet’s climate. 

That said, humans only contribute a small amount of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere in addition to what is already there. But in the activity, we learned that even a small amount of food coloring, our ‘carbon dioxide,’ can impact the atmosphere a lot. Once done, it's done. In fact, the carbon dioxide we emit today can stay in the atmosphere for up to 1,000 years. That is why it is important for us to try to use less energy in our daily lives. Carpool with a friend, or combine multiple trips to the store to burn a little less gasoline. Turn lights, T.V.s, and computers off when not in use. What are some other things you can think of doing to lower the amount of carbon dioxide you put into the atmosphere each day?