Greenhouse Effect Gizmo

Name:________________________________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ____________

Background: How does a greenhouse work? It lets heat in and then traps it, which raises the temperature inside. A

similar thing is happening to Earth, and it could have serious negative effects.

The greenhouse effect is the warming of Earth due to carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere. Warming

occurs as sunlight strikes the Earth. Much of the sunlight is reflected back into space. But Earth's atmosphere absorbs

much of the heat and slows its escape from Earth. In this way, the Earth is like a greenhouse. The atmosphere encloses

the Earth just as panes of glass enclose a greenhouse. Because of their heat-trapping abilities, the carbon dioxide and

other gases in Earth's atmosphere are often called greenhouse gases.

Part I: Daily Cycles of Heat and Temperature

In this activity, you will examine the relationship between the time of day and the temperature.

1. Launch the Greenhouse Effect Gizmo. With Greenhouse gases (relative percent) set to 10%, click Play and

watch as several days go by. Notice the moving red arrow at the top of the SIMULATION pane indicating the

time of day.

2. Next click on the BAR CHART tab. The bar charts show heat flow (expressed in arbitrary units) and temperature

in degrees Fahrenheit. Set the Simulation speed slider to Slow and hit play again for a few more days.

a. How does the heat flow going in (Hin) fluctuate throughout the day?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

b. At what time is the most heat entering the atmosphere? (use am/pm on all times) _________

c. During what time range is there no heat at all entering the atmosphere? _____ to _____

d. Why do you think this is? ______________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

e. How does the heat leaving the atmosphere (Hout) change during the day? _________________________

f. How does the temperature change throughout the day? ____________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

g. At about what time is it hottest? _____________

h. At about what time is it coolest? __________________

Partial preview of the text

Download Greenhouse Effect Gizmo and more Study notes Earth Sciences in PDF only on Docsity!

Name:________________________________________________________ Period: _______ Date: ____________

Background: How does a greenhouse work? It lets heat in and then traps it, which raises the temperature inside. A similar thing is happening to Earth, and it could have serious negative effects. The greenhouse effect is the warming of Earth due to carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere. Warming occurs as sunlight strikes the Earth. Much of the sunlight is reflected back into space. But Earth's atmosphere absorbs much of the heat and slows its escape from Earth. In this way, the Earth is like a greenhouse. The atmosphere encloses the Earth just as panes of glass enclose a greenhouse. Because of their heat-trapping abilities, the carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth's atmosphere are often called greenhouse gases.

Part I: Daily Cycles of Heat and Temperature

In this activity, you will examine the relationship between the time of day and the temperature.

Launch the Greenhouse Effect Gizmo. With Greenhouse gases (relative percent) set to 10%, click Play and watch as several days go by. Notice the moving red arrow at the top of the SIMULATION pane indicating the time of day.
Next click on the BAR CHART tab. The bar charts show heat flow (expressed in arbitrary units) and temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. Set the Simulation speed slider to Slow and hit play again for a few more days. a. How does the heat flow going in ( Hin ) fluctuate throughout the day? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ b. At what time is the most heat entering the atmosphere? (use am/pm on all times) _________ c. During what time range is there no heat at all entering the atmosphere? _____ to _____ d. Why do you think this is? ______________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ e. How does the heat leaving the atmosphere ( Hout ) change during the day? _________________________ f. How does the temperature change throughout the day? ____________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ g. At about what time is it hottest? _____________ h. At about what time is it coolest? __________________

Click Reset. Then click on the TABLE tab. You will now look at 24 hours of heat and temperature data. Click Play and watch the time pass in the data table. When Time (hr) reaches 24.00, click Pause. Then use the scroll bar on the right side of the table to answer the questions below. a. At what time does heat ( Hin ) begin to enter the greenhouse?__________ b. What happened at that time?___________________________________________________________ c. At what time did the greatest amount of heat enter? __________ d. Why do you think this is?_____________________________________________________________ e. What do you notice about Hout throughout the day? ___________________________________________________________________________ f. What was the maximum temperature? ______________ g. At what time did the maximum temperature occur? (Convert your answer from "military time" to "a.m. and p.m." time.)______________________ h. What was the minimum temperature? _________________ i. At what time did the minimum temperature occur? _______________________ 4. Click Reset. Then click on the GRAPH tab. You will be looking at graphs of Hin , Hout , and temperature over time. Answer these questions before you click play. a. What do you expect the graph of Hout to look like over a number of days? Describe or sketch. b. What do you expect the graph of Hin to look like over a number of days? Describe or sketch. c. What do you expect the graph of T°F^ to look like over a number of days compared to Hin?
Adjust the Simulation speed slider so that the speed is about halfway between Slow and Fast. Then click Play. When about four or five days have passed, click Pause. a. Do the three graphs look like you expected? ( Circle one ) Yes No b. Explain why each graph looks like it does. ▪ Hout ▪ Hin ▪ T°F

Click Reset. Set Greenhouse gases (relative percent) to 30%. Click Play and watch for 7 days. a. Fill in the 30% Day 7 column on the table above.
Click Play and watch until Day 30 then pause. a. Fill in the 30% Day 30 column on the table above. b. With higher levels of greenhouse gases, how has Hin changed ( Circle one ) Increased Same Decreased c. How has Hout changed? ( Circle one ) Increased Same Decreased d. Compare how the temperature change from day 7 to 30 at 30% is different from when the Greenhouse gases slider was set to 20%: ________________________________________________
With Greenhouse gases (relative percent) still set to 30% let it play until day 60. a. What happens to the temperature? ( Circle one ) Continue to increase Eventually level off
With the simulation still running, adjust the Greenhouse gases (relative percent) back down to 10%. a. How do the daily high and low temperatures change? ( Circle one ) Continue to increase Eventually Level off Begin to decrease b. How quickly does that change occur? ( Circle one ) Immediate One Month Two Months
The influence of greenhouse gases on temperature is called the greenhouse effect. Based on what you have seen, how do greenhouse gases affect the heat flow into and out of Earth’s atmosphere?
Take the quiz at the end of the gizmo. Record your score: _________________________

Greenhouse Effect Gizmo, Study notes of Earth Sciences

Related documents

Partial preview of the text

Download Greenhouse Effect Gizmo and more Study notes Earth Sciences in PDF only on Docsity!

Greenhouse Effect Gizmo

Part I: Daily Cycles of Heat and Temperature