Get Crafty with Carbon!

Get Crafty with Carbon!

While talking about the carbon cycle. 

What is a Carbon Atom

Here's what one single carbon atom looks like! Here we added beads of protons, neutrons, and electrons to a paper template of a Bohr model of a carbon atom.

For more lessons with elements, here's another blog post: http://steamma.blogspot.com/2021/06/chemistry-is-for-kids-building-with.html

What does it look like when Carbon mixes with Oxygen? 

It's an invisible gas!

We made our own carbon dioxide molecules with a Lewis Dot Structure. We took the outer ring of electrons (valence electrons) from our Carbon atom and combined it with the valence electrons of two Oxygen atoms.  The letters in the picture were cut from paper towel tubes, but you or your child could use any material you have on hand. 

What is the Carbon Cycle?

Here's a graphic that I made to explain.

Carbon can be present in the sky, land, or sea. It's safest for humans when a lot of carbon is sequestered in our land and oceans.

When carbon is in the sky, it is often in the form of Carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that can build up in the atmosphere and trap heat.

Humans breathe out carbon dioxide, and plants use carbon dioxide to make sugars like glucose and polysaccharides like starches. Plants do this through a natural chemical process called photosynthesis. When a plant converts carbon dioxide into something that can be stored, it's called Carbon sequestration. 

Here is a photo of a wildflower plant that is currently photosynthesizing in our home garden.

Here is a massive phytoplankton bloom in the Bearing Sea, as seen from space. (Photo from the NASA image library)

What does it look like when we combine carbon atoms for sequestration?

When we put 6 atoms of carbon together into a molecule, it makes a Benzene ring. 

Here's a simple illustration of a Benzene ring, like the thousands I drew during Organic Chemistry classes. 

Let's Get Creative!

Here's a picture that shows the materials I had available for the kids during this activity. Glue, Play-Doh, watercolors, crayons, popsicle sticks, paperclips. The writing prompt says: "Make your own 6-carbon ring, your way."

Here are a couple of ways that we made Benzene rings. We used popsicle sticks and paperclips! Maybe next time we'll use our watercolors. 

What materials do you like to use to build?

NASA Resource:

Let your kids explore the Carbon Cycle, check out NASA's Climate Kids. 

https://climatekids.nasa.gov/greenhouse-effect-and-carbon-cycle/