Carbon Capture and Climate Change

• In this lesson, students will learn how some carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels can be captured and stored underground or used in some manufacturing processes. 
• Students will listen to a podcast about carbon capture and storage, complete an activity about using captured carbon dioxide to make sustainable concrete, read and discuss articles about carbon capture topics, and learn about carbon capture facilities around the world using an interactive map. 
  

Positives

• The podcast features interviews with Howard Herzog, the senior research engineer for the MIT Energy Initiative, and MIT professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Brad Hager.
  
• Students will learn about many aspects of carbon capture from a variety of sources.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should understand the role that carbon dioxide plays in climate change.
• The Concrete Without Quarries activity requires several materials. It is part of a lesson that is designed to take two 60-minute classes.

Differentiation

• In classes with a variety of reading levels, teachers may want to modify the reading and discussion tasks so that students read one article per small group and have the groups present their findings to the class.
• Economics and civics classes could discuss the prospects of using incentives or a carbon tax to get companies to capture and store carbon.
  
• Other resources on this topic include this video on using kelp to capture carbon, this PBS video on large-scale carbon capture, and this video on using captured carbon to make concrete.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.