Ninth Grade Biology Students Explore Matter and Energy
"How can a carbon atom that is part of you have once been in the ocean?” In a recent Biology Assignment, 9th grade students first explored the essential question, “How does matter and energy move through an ecosystem?” by playing a board game that tracked the movement of carbon atoms between different reservoirs.
Next, students explored the fluxes that move carbon atoms, including how fluxes can involve energy transfers. With this understanding, they calculated the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by trees on Dalton's 89th Street block.
Students also more closely studied the properties of different carbon compounds, including the behavior of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Finally, students studied how the actions of humans impact the carbon cycle and the climate by analyzing historical trends and discussing the effect of different approaches to solving the climate crisis.