Activity 3.2: The Carbon Dice Game (30 min)

Use Slides 3 and 4 to remind students that they are working to explain the organic matter pyramid by answering three of the Large-scale Four Questions: the Carbon Pools Question, the Carbon Cycling Question, and the Energy Flow Question.

Show students the 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Posters, 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Tally Cards, and 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Energy Labels in their locations around the classroom. These are the carbon pools for a meadow ecosystem.

• Use Slide 5 to introduce the Carbon Dice Game, explaining that they will play the roles of carbon atoms as they go through processes that move them from one pool to another in the ecosystem.
• Use Slides 6-9 to explain the rules of the Carbon Dice Game. Show students where the different carbon pools are set up around the room. Explain that sometimes they will be a part of organic molecules (that contain chemical energy), and sometimes they will be a part of inorganic molecules (that do not contain useable chemical energy). When they are part of an organic molecule, they need to carry a yellow twist tie with them to represent this energy. Show students the containers where they should pick up and drop off their twist ties. At each pool, students should make tally marks on the 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Tally Cards each time they visit a pool and fill in their individual tracking sheet, 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Tracking Sheet.

Accommodation: Have students work in pairs to play the game.

Before playing the game, distribute one die and one copy of the 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Tracking Sheet to each student.

• Model how to play the game by having one or two students roll the dice and move through the ecosystem a few times in front of the whole class. Be sure students understand when to pick up or drop off a twist tie and that a carbon atom can only have one twist tie at one time. Twist ties can be used only once when some organism needs to use energy.
• Remind students to make a tally mark and record the pool and process on their tracking sheet every time they enter a carbon pool or roll the dice and remain in a carbon pool. Ask the students if they have any questions.
• Ask the students if they have any questions.

Have all students start in the atmosphere pool as carbon in carbon dioxide molecules. Every student should record atmosphere as their first pool on their tracking sheet. Remember, these do not have energy, so students should begin without a twist tie. However, when they move to the Producer pool, they need to take a twist tie with them!

• Give students 10-15 minutes to play the game. Remember, in the Atmosphere pool, the twist ties represent sunlight energy; when students arrive at the Producer pool, the twist ties represent chemical energy; and when students leave twist ties at the Producer, Herbivore, Carnivore, and Soil Organic Carbon pools, the twist ties represent heat energy lost to the environment.
• Have your students save their 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Tracking Sheet. They will use them in the next activity.

Accommodation: Give students more time to move around the room to play the game. Set up a timer so students know to stay on task and that you expect them to have finished the game before the timer goes off. If you think your students will need more guidance, stop the students every five minutes or so to check on their progress and allow students to ask questions.

Use Slides 10-11 to evaluate the results of the game when it is over.

• Have students collect the 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Tally Cards from each station and add up the tally marks.

Enter the number of tally marks in the 3.2 Carbon Dice Game Class Results Spreadsheet under the “visitations” tab. This will automatically generate a graph for your class. These results will be further evaluated in Activity 3.3

Use Slide 12 for a discussion of what happened to the energy twist ties in the game. Energy movement through ecosystems will be discussed in greater detail in Activity 3.5, so for now, simply have students observe where the twist ties ended up in the ecosystem.

Use Slide 13 to remind students of the questions about the organic matter pyramid that they started with. Ask them to connect their experiences in the Carbon Dice Game to the Carbon Cycling Question and the organic matter pyramid.

Show Slide 14 of the 3.2 The Carbon Dice Game PPT.

• Conclusions: Which carbon pool did the carbon atoms visit less than the others?
• Predictions: How can the Carbon Dice Game help us to explain the organic matter pyramid?
• On a sheet of paper or a sticky note, have students individually answer the exit ticket questions. Depending on time, you may have students answer both questions, assign students to answer a particular question, or let students choose one question to answer. Collect and review the answers.

The conclusions question will provide you with information about what your students are taking away from the activity. Student answers to the conclusions question can be used on the Driving Questions Board (if you are using one). The predictions question allows students to begin thinking about the next activity and allows you to assess their current ideas as you prepare for the next activity. Student answers to the predictions question can be used as a lead into the next activity.