Students use their scientific knowledge about Earth’s climate and the greenhouse effect to figure out how to engineer greenhouses, using various methods to achieve the desired internal temperature range.
Prepared hands-on materials, full year grade-specific curriculum, and personalized live professional development designed to support mastery of current state science standards.
Studying Climate Change
There are many questions that remain unanswered about how Earth is changing and what the impacts of warmer temperatures will be. Global warming leads to other changes, such as stronger hurricanes, melting glaciers, and the loss of wildlife habitats.
These changes are called climate change, and they happen because Earth's air, water, and land are all related to one another and to the climate. A change in one place can lead to changes in other places. For example, as Earth gets warmer, more water evaporates from the surface, becoming water vapor, a greenhouse gas. More water vapor in the atmosphere leads to even more warming, which will lead to more evaporation, which will lead to more warming.
Scientists are still trying to understand how this feedback loop impacts global warming. Many scientists around the world are studying different aspects of climate change to try to better understand how all of Earth’s systems work together. One example of this is the researchers focusing on how warmer temperatures affect the latitude in which plants such as sugar maples are found. This is because many climate scientists are worried that climate change will significantly alter weather systems around the planet. This could make life more difficult for living things, which will have to adapt to the rapid changes or risk becoming extinct.
Designing a Greenhouse
Engineers have already designed technologies that apply scientific knowledge about heat transfer and Earth’s climate. For example, step inside a greenhouse, and one of the first things you’re likely to notice is that the temperature inside is much warmer than the temperature outside. Even on wintery days, greenhouses are usually filled with a variety of plants, including different kinds of flowers and vegetables. Behind the scenes, engineers have worked to make sure that the temperature can be maintained. If the weather outside changes dramatically, plant growers operating the greenhouse can monitor and change the amount of heat, light, and water their plants are getting.
The design of a greenhouse plays an important role in how well it is able to regulate the temperatures inside. Radiant heat from the sun enters the greenhouse through its transparent covering of glass or plastic and starts to warm the objects, soil, and plants inside. The heated surface warms the air above it. As the air heats up, it begins to rise, and through convection, cooler air fills its space. That cooler air becomes heated as well. Because the greenhouse is tightly sealed, all of the air inside remains relatively warm. If even a small window is opened, the temperature will drop. Greenhouses can also become humid because of plant transpiration, which releases water vapor into the atmosphere.
Some greenhouse owners experiment with inexpensive ways to increase heat, such as painting containers black to absorb heat and filling them with water to keep the heat. Most engineers also use location, positioning the greenhouse where it will get the most direct sunlight.
When an engineer designs a greenhouse, they research the specific needs of that particular greenhouse. For example, what kinds of plants will be grown, and what is their ideal temperature range? How many plants will be grown, and how much space do they need to grow? What is the climate of the location like, and how much sun does that location usually get? How much do the various materials cost?
KnowAtom incorporates formative and summative assessments designed to make students thinking visible for deeper student-centered learning.
Discover hands-on screens-off core science curriculum for student centered K-8 classrooms. KnowAtom supports classrooms with all hands-on materials, curriculum, and professional development to support mastery of the standards.
