Carbon Capture and Climate Change
Lesson Plans
Grades9, 10, 11, 12Chemistry, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering
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Provided by MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
What it is
- In this lesson, students will learn how some carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels can be captured and stored underground or used in some manufacturing processes.
- Students will listen to a podcast about carbon capture and storage, complete an activity about using captured carbon dioxide to make sustainable concrete, read and discuss articles about carbon capture topics, and learn about carbon capture facilities around the world using an interactive map.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The podcast features interviews with Howard Herzog, the senior research engineer for the MIT Energy Initiative, and MIT professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Brad Hager.
- Students will learn about many aspects of carbon capture from a variety of sources.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should understand the role that carbon dioxide plays in climate change.
- The Concrete Without Quarries activity requires several materials. It is part of a lesson that is designed to take two 60-minute classes.
Differentiation
- In classes with a variety of reading levels, teachers may want to modify the reading and discussion tasks so that students read one article per small group and have the groups present their findings to the class.
- Economics and civics classes could discuss the prospects of using incentives or a carbon tax to get companies to capture and store carbon.
- Other resources on this topic include this video on using kelp to capture carbon, this PBS video on large-scale carbon capture, and this video on using captured carbon to make concrete.
From the scientist review
This resource includes a podcast in which two MIT experts are interviewed and present an overview of carbon capture, utilization, and storage strategies and how they might be implemented worldwide. These strategies might play a critical role into addressing climate change, although setting up the infrastructure is expensive. A transcript and educator's guide, along with additional resource links, are provided. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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