Activity 12: The Carbon Puzzle

This activity helps students connect the concepts of carbon sequestration in pine forests, carbon storage in wood products, and saving carbon emissions through wood product substitution. Students participate in a Six Bits group exercise to assess a series of facts and answer this question: How can we best manage forests and wood to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide? With instructor guidance and a slide presentation, students learn how researchers have answered this question, and they then use a graph to explore changes in forest carbon pools over time.

Full Activity (with student pages included)

• Activity 12

Student Pages 

• Six Bits Student Page
• Combining Carbon Pools Student Page

Presentation and Teacher Notes

• Tracking Carbon Presentation
• Tracking Carbon Teacher Notes

Answer Key

• Combining Carbon Pools Answer Key

You can find more related websites at the end of Activity 12 or check out Additional Resources for the entire module.

• CORRIM (Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials) Presentations – Several videos and presentations related to assessments of carbon storage, life cycles, and product substitution.
• Forest Management Solutions for Mitigating Climate Change in the United States – Report with information on preventing greenhouse gas emissions through wood substitution and biomass substitution and reducing atmospheric greenhouse gases through sequestration in forests and storage in wood products.
• Maximizing Forest Contributions to Carbon Mitigation – Fact sheet summarizing CORRIM research findings for life cycle assessment studies related to carbon in forests, forest products, and wood product substitution.
• Discover the Forest – Activities and resources related to engaging students in the outdoors and green spaces.

Read more teacher comments