Composition of the Atmosphere Lab

In this Earth Science activity, students will gain a better understanding of what gases the atmosphere is made out of. Students will need to work some math problems out, converting percents and decimal places to determine ppm, parts per million. Students will gain an understanding that greenhouse gases make up such a small amount of the atmosphere, but are extremely important in keeping the temperature balance in check.

Students will demonstrate the amounts that each gas makes up in the atmosphere, by coloring in graph paper that has been divided into 10,000 squares. While doing this students will get experience understanding what parts per million and why scientists use parts per million when discussing trace gases. As partners students will discover and discuss whether or not greenhouse gases are harmful or helpful to survival and our atmosphere.

This assignment was also created to incorporate math and reading into my science class.