Get Your Gummy Greenhouse Gases!

Tuesday, April 22 2008 @ 01:18 am EDT

Contributed by: dgrosvold

Making science edible--and sweet--is a reliable way to attracts kids' interest. The new "Gummy Greenhouse Gases" activity on The Space Place web site makes it fun and easy to learn a bit of chemistry and to find out why too many of these kinds of molecules in the air are likely to cause Earth to get warmer. At http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/tes/gumdrops, kids use gumdrops and toothpicks to make simple molecules of ozone, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane. The curious can go on to http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/tes/gases to learn more about the greenhouse effect and about the "good and bad" roles of ozone. A short video shows how new space technology can literally paint a 3-D picture of these gases all around the globe. Afterwards, the ghastly gases can be consumed (mind the toothpicks!), thus helping the environment.

 

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