Throughout this trimester, 10th graders have applied their understanding of cellular respiration and photosynthesis to the global carbon cycle. Specifically, students were assigned a tree on MICDS’ campus and collected data that allowed them to calculate how many pounds of carbon are theoretically stored in their tree, and ultimately, how that relates to the carbon cycle and climate change.
Students worked in groups to create infographics describing what they had learned and community members and MICDS science teachers were invited to come to the classroom and act as a panel of judges to choose a winning infographic.
“We had to organize a kind of story,” said Joshua Borja ’22, describing the process of creating the infographic. “We tell what the carbon cycle actually is and then talk about the different contributions to the problem, and wrap it up with the overall solution – how trees are helping to sequester carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere.”
As the judges moved about the classroom to each infographic, they asked the students to explain their project and also asked what they had learned or what they found surprising.
“I thought it was really interesting how a whole bunch of trees can really affect the amount of carbon in the atmosphere,” said Anna Lochhead ’22.
“We had a very old, large tree and it sequestered a ton of pounds of carbon over the years,” continued Borja.
After the presentations, a winning infographic was chosen. Kareena Kanumury ’23 and Spencer Kolman ’22 took first prize, and their infographic can be viewed here.