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Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY Page 1 www.sciencenter.org Let’s Make Molecules Create your own greenhouse gas models! Activity Guide Learning Objective Visitors will learn the composition and molecular structure of three greenhouse gas molecules. They will explore of how greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere and the resulting contribution to global climate change. Climate Connection Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the byproduct of burning carbon‐based fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Once we use the heat from these energy sources, large amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere; this carbon combines (bonds) with oxygen atoms to create carbon dioxide. As a result of our dependence on carbon based fossil fuels we have seen a significant increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the past hundred years. This increase in CO 2 is the primary cause of global warming and climate change. Our atmosphere is composed of primarily nitrogen and oxygen with small amounts of greenhouse gases. Although carbon dioxide is the most common contributor to climate change, water vapor (H 2 O) and methane (CH 4 ) are also important greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases absorb and reflect back infrared energy, thus trapping heat within the Earth’s atmosphere. Materials • Gumdrops (per group or person) o 3 red gumdrops (oxygen) o 6 green gumdrops (hydrogen) o 2 black or purple gumdrops (carbon) • 5 toothpicks broken in half (per group or person; the models are more accurate if the toothpicks are broken in half to represent the bonds between atoms) • 5 small bowls Did you know? Greenhouse gases help regulate the temperature of the Earth; without them it would be too cold for humans! Description: Visitors will use gumdrops and toothpicks to model three greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2O) and methane (CH4) Audience: Hands-on activity for families and kids ages 5 and up Length: 10-15 minutes

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Page 1: Let’s Make Molecules - Sciencenter

 Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY Page 1 www.sciencenter.org

Let’s Make Molecules Create your own greenhouse gas models!

 

ActivityGuide

Learning Objective

Visitorswilllearnthecompositionandmolecularstructureofthreegreenhousegasmolecules.Theywillexploreofhowgreenhousegasesarereleasedintotheatmosphereandtheresultingcontributiontoglobalclimatechange.

Climate Connection

Carbondioxide(CO2)isthebyproductofburningcarbon‐basedfossilfuelssuchascoalandoil.Onceweusetheheatfromtheseenergysources,largeamountsofcarbonarereleasedintotheatmosphere;thiscarboncombines(bonds)withoxygenatomstocreatecarbondioxide.Asaresultofourdependenceoncarbonbasedfossilfuelswehaveseenasignificantincreaseintheamountofatmosphericcarbondioxideinthepasthundredyears.ThisincreaseinCO2istheprimarycauseofglobalwarmingandclimatechange.Ouratmosphereiscomposedofprimarilynitrogenandoxygenwithsmallamountsofgreenhousegases.Althoughcarbondioxideisthemostcommoncontributortoclimatechange,watervapor(H2O)andmethane(CH4)arealsoimportantgreenhousegases.Greenhousegasesabsorbandreflectbackinfraredenergy,thustrappingheatwithintheEarth’satmosphere.

Materials

• Gumdrops(pergrouporperson)o 3redgumdrops(oxygen)o 6greengumdrops(hydrogen)o 2blackorpurplegumdrops(carbon)

• 5toothpicksbrokeninhalf(pergrouporperson;themodelsaremoreaccurateifthetoothpicksarebrokeninhalftorepresentthebondsbetweenatoms)

• 5smallbowls

Did you know? Greenhouse gases help regulate the temperature of the Earth; without them it would be too cold for humans!   

Description: Visitors will use gumdrops and toothpicks to model three greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2O) and methane (CH4) Audience: Hands-on activity for families and kids ages 5 and up Length: 10-15 minutes

Page 2: Let’s Make Molecules - Sciencenter

What’saWatt? ActivityGuide

Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY Page www.sciencenter.org 2

Set up

• Pre‐sortthegumdropsaccordingtocolorandplaceeachcolorinanindividualbowl.

• Pre‐cuttoothpicksinhalfandplacetheminaseparatebowl(theextrabowlisusedtodiscardusedgumdropsandtoothpicks).

• Preparemodelsofeachmoleculeasanexampleforvisitors.

Program Delivery

What are greenhouse gases?   Mostgreenhousegasmoleculesarecomprisedofthreeormoreatomsandhavetheabilitytoabsorbandreflectinfrared(heat)energy.Bycontrast,moleculesthatarecomprisedofthesametwoatomseach,suchasmolecularoxygen(O2)ormolecularhydrogen(H2),donotabsorbinfraredenergyandarenotgreenhousegases.Carbondioxideisthemostcommongreenhousegas;watervapor(H2O)andmethane(CH4)arealsoimportantcontributorstotheglobalEarth’stemperature.How is CO2 formed? Whenweburncarbon‐basedfossilfuelssuchascoalandoil,largeamountsofcarbonarereleasedintotheatmosphere.Thiscarboncombines(bonds)withoxygenatomstocreatecarbondioxide(CO2).Inthepasthundredyearswehaveseenasignificantincreaseintheamountofatmosphericcarbondioxide,andscientistsbelievetheincreaseinCO2istheprimarycauseofglobalwarmingandclimatechange.[Havevisitorsstartbuildingthecarbondioxidemolecule,andthenproceedwiththerestofthemolecules.Tocorrectlybuildthemolecules,visitorsmayusetheexamplemodelorthepicturesonthebackgroundsheet.]What does the structure of greenhouse gases look like? Incarbondioxide,theoxygenatomsaredoublebondedtothecarbonatominthecenter.[Visitorswillusetwotoothpicksoneachsidetoconnecttheatoms.Theyshouldformastraightline.]Inwatervapor,thetwohydrogenatomsarebondedtotheredoxygenatom.[Visitorswilluseonetoothpickoneachsideoftheoxygenatomtoconnecttheatoms.Theyarenotinastraightlinebutcomeoutinanangle.]Inmethane,thefourhydrogenatomsarebondedtothecarbonatom.[Visitorswilluseonetoothpickeachtoconnecttheatoms.Theatomsshouldbeasfarapartfromeachotheraspossible.]  

Page 3: Let’s Make Molecules - Sciencenter

What’saWatt? ActivityGuide

Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY Page www.sciencenter.org 3

Extension: Human methane model! [Ifvisitorsarehavingahardtimevisualizingthearrangementofatomsinmethane,askthemtoimaginethattheirbodyisthecarbonatom,andtheirhandsandfeetrepresentthehydrogenatoms.Tellvisitorsthatthehydrogenatomswanttobeasfarapartaspossible.Howdoyoustandsoyourhandsandfeetareasfarapartaspossible?Theanswerisonehandoveryourheadinfrontofyouandonehandoveryourheadbackofyouandyourfeetspreadaparttotheleftandright.Thisformsthecornersofatetrahedron.]

BJisillustratinghowtobeahumanmethanemodel

DiscussionQuestions:

o HowdogreenhousegasesmaketheEarthwarmer?o Whatthingsinyourhomeproduceorcontributetoproducinggreenhousegases?o Whatarewaysofreducinggreenhousegasesinouratmosphere?

Credits ThisprojectismadepossiblebyagrantfromtheU.S.InstituteofMuseumandLibraryServicesCopyright2010,Sciencenter,Ithaca,NY.


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