LiveEarth & Space ScienceGrades 6-12

The Greenhouse Effect

Control sunlight, infrared, and greenhouse gases, and watch Earth warm in real time.

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What students do

Students adjust CO2 and methane across real climate eras (pre-industrial to today) and watch the planet's temperature respond. They see photons pass through nitrogen and oxygen, infrared radiate back from the surface, and greenhouse gases absorb and re-emit that heat, building an intuitive, physically honest model of the greenhouse effect.

Standards alignment

HS-ESS2-4

Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth's systems result in changes in climate.

Practice: Developing and Using ModelsCrosscutting: Cause and Effect

MS-ESS3-5

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Practice: Asking Questions and Defining ProblemsCrosscutting: Stability and Change