The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Greenhouse Effect in a Bottle

Greenhouse Effect in a Bottle

A 6th grade STEM lesson

Stacy Flanagan

Jan. 15, 2024

Notes for teachers

This lesson can be modified quite a bit depending on how much planning you would like the students to do prior to the experiment. Students will monitor the temperature change in two identical bottle setups, except one bottle will be sealed with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap will help simulate the greenhouse effect. They will monitor the temperature changes while exposed to light for 20 minutes and for 10 minutes after the light source has been removed.

List of Materials

• 2 empty 2-liter soda bottles per group
• 1 heat lamp with clip per group
• 2 thermometers per group
• A stopwatch or clock per group
• Soil
• Plastic wrap
• Masking tape
• Chromebook or device to access Google sheets

Science Standards

6.E1U1.6

Investigate and construct an explanation demonstrating that radiation from the Sun provides energy and is absorbed to warm the Earth’s surface and atmosphere.

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Math Standards

6.MP.3

Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

6.MP.4

Model with mathematics.

Objectives:

Today we will investigate how energy from the sun heats the Earth.

Today we will use scientific tools to collect evidence.

Today we will use mathematical models to represent our data.

Agenda (2-3 class periods)

This lesson is about the greenhouse effect. Students will observe how the radiant energy from a light source (the sun or a lamp) causes a temperature change.

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This lesson can lead into a variety of different discussions, such as:

• Global warming/ climate change and human/natural impact
• Convection currents and weather
• Heat transfer: Radiation, Conduction, Convection

Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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What makes Earth different from Venus and Mars? Why can we survive the temperatures here and not the temperatures there?

Earth’s Average Temperature= 59 F or 15 C

Venus’ Average Temperature= 867 F or 464 C

Mars' Average Temperature= -85 F or -65 C

Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Students should work in groups of 2-3.
• The teacher or students can determine can determine the specific set ups for each of their bottles. However, both bottles must be the same except for the plastic wrap covering the top of one of the bottles.
• Variables that the class can decide could be (used during first testing or for future tests):
• Amount of soil
• Distance from heat lamp
• Adding a spray of water to the bottle or container of water
• Adding vegetation
• etc.
• It soda bottles aren’t available, Large mason jars and sealing the lid on one would also work. You would just need to have the light pointed through the glass rather than the lid.

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Hands-on Activity Instructions (Cont.)

Set Up For Both Bottles:

• Put the desired amount of soil in each bottle. (Same for both)
• Tape a thermometer to the inside of the bottle (so it can be read from the outside) above the soil line.
• Cover the bulb of the thermometer with a index card/paper so the light will not directly hit the bulb.

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Hands-on Activity Instructions (Cont.)

Lamp Set Up:

• Attach a heat lamp to a chair or stool so that it can be equidistant from both bottle during testing.
• Make sure that both thermometers will be able to be read from this position.

Hands-on Activity Instructions (Cont.)

• For your groups of 3, have two students read the thermometers and one student recording the data.
• Make sure students are able to read thermometers. Do a mini lesson on thermometer use if needed.
• Also ensure that all groups are going to collect their data in the same units (F or C).
• Students will need to create a data table in their journals to record temperatures or you can supply them with one. You could also have the students use large whiteboards if you have them.

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Hands-on Activity Instructions (Cont.)

• Before you turn on the heat lamps, cover one bottle with plastic wrap.
• Have students take a baseline temperature measurement of both bottles. Record as temperature at minute 0.
• Once students turn on the light they need to record the temperature for both bottles every minute for twenty minutes.
• After 20 minutes has passed, turn off the lights and have students continue recording the temperatures for an additional 5-10mins.

Hands-on Activity Instructions (Cont.)

• After the data has been collected, students can go onto Google Classroom to graph their data.
• You can discuss with them the pros and cons or using various graphs to model the data.
• Multiple groups’ data can then be combined so that students can see the trends other groups.
• This is also a good opportunity to have mini lesson with students about line slope for math content.

Hands-on Activity Instructions (Cont.)

Discussion Questions

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• Which bottle had the greatest increase in temperature when exposed to light?
• Which one heated up faster?
• Which bottle cooled down the fastest when the light was removed?
• Create a model showing what happened with the heat energy in the system.
• Research the atmospheres of Earth, Mars and Venus, how do they compare?

Assessment

Assessment can be based off student graphs, discussion questions and models created during the project.

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Writing Prompt- Have students write about what the experiment shows and use their data for evidence. If students have had experience writing a CER- they can write a claim, use evidence from the lab, and then explain their reasoning. It’s great practice to have students back up their claim with direct evidence.

Differentiation

• Have a class set of the bottles so they don’t have to deal with the confusion of keeping track of data for two bottles. Then you can use Google Sheets to graph the data that students use for the discussion.
• Choose groups for the lab that all have a strong science student who can model.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

• Students can do further testing with other substances covering the bottle instead of plastic wrap, such as aluminum foil or wax paper.
• Students could do more testing using more varying amounts of layers of plastic wrap to model an increase in greenhouse gases.
• Students could try adding plants or water to the bottles to see how that might affect the temperature changes.