The Earth Scientist

Volume XXVIII, Issue 3
Page 9
The Carbon Cycle
Game: A Regionally
Relevant Activity
to Introduce
Climate Change
Joëlle Clark, Jane Marks, PhD, Carol Haden, EdD,
Melinda Bell, Bruce Hungate, PhD
Illustration by Landis
Bahe, Navajo artist http://
artofthepeople.org/LandisBahe.
html
Abstract
The “Carbon Cycle Game” is introduced as a regionally relevant activity for students to
experience the carbon cycle. In the game, students behave as carbon molecules moving
between reservoirs (hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere). Students select
cards that instruct them to take on the role of a carbon molecule. The cards provide information
about a carbon cycling process and direct students how to move from one carbon
reservoir to another. Students conduct ten rounds of cycling while recording where they
went and how long they stayed. The game concludes with a discussion of student experiences
and a review of the carbon cycle. Teacher feedback on the implementation and
impact on learning in the classroom indicates high levels of student engagement and effective
strategies to learn about carbon and its role in climate change. Although the lesson is
regionally based, it can easily be adapted to other regions of the globe, if needed.
The Carbon Cycle Game: A Regionally Relevant Activity to
Introduce Climate Change
According to the 2007 synthesis report prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), the main drivers for climate change are increased concentrations of greenhouse
gases and aerosols and increased global radiation in the atmosphere and on the Earth’s surface
(IPCC 2007, p. 15). Human activities have increased the concentrations of greenhouses gases in the
Earth’s atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide. Students are challenged to understand the role of
carbon in global climate change.
Students need to know how carbon cycles through Earth’s systems. The Framework for K-12
Science Education (National Research Council 2012) outlines a vision for student learning that
emphasizes the Earth as interconnected systems involving the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere,
and biosphere. Students are typically introduced to a carbon cycle in elementary or middle grades
as a part of how matter cycles. Often, a diagram with arrows showing the flow of carbon is used
to illustrate this process (See Figure 1: Example of Carbon Cycle Diagram). Research on student
misconceptions indicates that students see the parts of this cycle, yet see the connections among
the systems as fragmented. They think the cycle involves cause and effect events with matter being
created or destroyed during those events. To them, each part of the cycle represents a new, not
continuous, event (Driver, Squire, Rushworth, & Wood-Robinson 1994). This disjointed view of
how carbon moves, makes it difficult to apply the carbon cycle to environmental issues, such as
© 2012 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.