Abraham Aragon Activity Greenhouse Effect Gizmo 2025/2026

Student Exploration: Greenhouse Effect
Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts
in the orange boxes. Open the Gizmos simulation “Greenhouse Effect” to answer the questions.
Vocabulary: global warming, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, heat flow
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. What do you notice when you get into a car that has
been sitting in the Sun for a while?
I notice that the car is very hot (hotter than the
air outside of the car) and that the seats and
steering wheel are very hot
2. Why is the inside of the car so hot? Because the heat is trapped inside of the car
and has nowhere to go
3. How would things be different if the car’s windows
were left open?
The heat would have a place to go making the
car slightly cooler
Gizmo Warm-up
Like the windows of a car, greenhouse gases play a major role in
regulating Earth’s climate. Without the gases that trap heat in Earth’s
atmosphere, Earth would be a frigid desert like Mars (average
temperature -55°C, or -67°F). Too much greenhouse gas and Earth
could be a fiery inferno like Venus (average temperature 450°C, or
850°F).
On the Greenhouse Effect Gizmo, set the Greenhouse gases to 0%
and the Simulation speed to fast.
1. Click Play ( ) and view the BAR CHART tab. The temperature will go up and down every day, but try to
look at the overall trend. What happens to the temperature over time?
The heat out stays the same, the heat varies by 0-60 and the temp stays around the same
time
2. Now set the Greenhouse gases to 100% and let the simulation run for a while. How does a maximum
amount of greenhouse gas affect the temperature?
The Temperature goes up everyday by a significant amount