KS3 ~ Year 8 ~ The Carbon Cycle

This lesson is designed for the KS3 Year 8 Science course, specifically the C2 1.4 unit on ‘The Earth’.

For more lessons designed for KS3 and KS4 please visit my shop at: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/SWiftScience.

Students will firstly be introduced to carbon as being one of the main constituents of life, as it is present within many molecules inside the human body - DNA, carbohydrates, fats & proteins. Students will also be introduced to the idea of ‘carbon sinks’.

Students will now watch a video on the carbon cycle, students will need to answer a set of questions whilst watching this video. This task can then be self-assessed using the mark scheme provided. Next, students will be given a ‘fill-in-the-blank’ task to complete using the key words provided on the PowerPoint presenation. Students can self-assess their work using the mark scheme provided once this task is complete.

Next, students will watch another video on the processes involved in the Carbon Cycle. Whilst watching this video they will be given a number of captions, which they will need to use in oder to fill in blanks on a worksheet. This task can be self-assessed using the mark scheme provided, once it is complete.

Lastly, students will be given a series of pictures and words/descriptions which they need to use in order to construct their own poster of the carbon cycle, they will need to add arrows to demonstrate where the carbon is moving from and to. This task can be self-assessed using the mark scheme provided on the PowerPoint presentation.

The final task requires students to read of piece of information, using this they should discuss and write down some changes that we could implement at home, and on a national scale, to help reduce our carbon emissions.

The plenary is a ‘pick a plenary’ task, students will either choose to write down a summary of what they have learned this lesson in three sentences, or they may choose to write definitions for a set of key words that are provided.

All resources are included at the end of the presentation, thanks for looking, if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section and any feedback would be appreciated :)