Learning Goals: Students will be able to
• Compare and contrast “light photons” and “infrared photons”.
• Identify what happens to
... [Show More] light photons when they get to Earth and why the temperature of the earth and its atmosphere changes.
• Design experiments to observe how clouds change the photons behavior
• Design experiments to observe how greenhouse gases change the photons behavior • Compare and contrast cloud behavior and greenhouse gas behavior.
• Use the Photon Absorption tab to identify if molecules are Greenhouse Gases and give the microscopic evidence that supports your ideas.
• Explain why inside a building or car sometimes is a different temperature than outside.
Extension:
• Discover when the “Ice Age” was and what was has changed about the composition of the greenhouse gases.
Important simulation information:
➢ When you start The Greenhouse Effect or use ,the earth temperature is reset to cold and light photons start coming from the sun.
➢ You might want to use the speed , pause , and step tools to help you watch the photon and temperature changes.
➢ Investigate the three tabs at the top of the simulation. Play around with these and various settings inside each tab to get a feel for how the simulation works before continuing on to the Directions below.
Directions:
In a separate Word document, answer questions 1 through 6 and the Extension (on second page). Make sure to fully answer each question and all of its parts for full credit.
1. Define “light photons” and “infrared photons”
a. How are they represented in the simulation?
b. If you were talking to a friend about what you observe, how would you explain what is happening with the energy from the sun and the energy from the Earth?
2. In the winter, weather reporters often day “It will be a very cold night because there are no clouds.”
a. Use the sim to see if you can understand why this could be true.
b. Describe your observations.
c. Would there be a difference between daytime and nighttime cloud effects? If so, what are they?
3. How can you make the greenhouse gases act similar to clouds?
a. Explain what you did.
b. Give the evidence to prove you made them act alike in a few different situations.
4. What do you notice about greenhouse gas effect on photons that is different from clouds? Give examples from situations that you made in the sim to support your ideas. [Show Less]