The activity was for the Physics and Chemistry subject with teacher Susana Ramos Franch and the guidance of climate expert Fr Eduardo Agosta Scarel.
The research was commissioned by NASA, setting up teams of scientists to analyse measurements over time of climate variables, such as the Earth’s global average surface temperature, the extent of sea ice in the Arctic and CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.
Th 9th A&B grade students of the ‘Virgen del Carmen’ Secondary School, Onda.
In the middle of their labs, they analysed the time series with trend graphs in spreadsheets. They investigated the physical mechanisms that produce the Earth’s climate in the “Climate Kitchen”, and discovered three key ingredients to make the Earth’s climate: 1) the temperature difference between the equator and the poles, 2) the Earth’s rotation speed and 3) the equilibrium temperature by Sun-Earth energy balance.
They also explored how climate is influenced by changes in the concentration of greenhouse gases over time by testing hypotheses with a virtual climate simulator provided by PhET at the University of Colorado.
They also discovered the reasons for the current global warming due to the increase of these greenhouse gases by human activities associated with the use of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal) through a mini-debate sparked by a short video produced by ACCIONA.
Th 9th A&B grade students of the ‘Virgen del Carmen’ Secondary School, Onda.
And it doesn’t end there. In the next few days, they will be learning more about the importance of climate care for life on Earth, through unpublished virtual games provided by The Planet Academy, kindly handed by Dr. Inez Harker-Schuch of the University of Copenhagen.
If you are interested in the Climate Change Teaching Unit, please contact: eduardo.agosta@carmelitasonda.org
