Searching for Infrared Traces

Our Forest as a Climate Saver!?

In the context of climate change processes, natural CO2 storages play an important role as parts of
the carbon cycle. This unit focuses on the forest as a carbon sink and asks the question of relations
between the binding of CO2 in Germany’s forests and the emission of greenhouse gases within Germany. With the help of satellite images, the pupils get an overview of the distribution of forest areas in Germany. These insights are linked to background information to solve the central problem.

The online version of the module is currently only available in German.

Download the complete teaching material (32 MB).

Form
7 8
Time required
2 hours
Level
2: easy
Recommended Prior Knowledge

none

Authors

Hannes Feilhauer
Roland Goetzke
Henryk Hodam
Kerstin Voß

Topics

carbon cycle
climate change
forest
the seasons

Goals

Interpret infrared satellite images and estimate the forest area of Germany.

Describe how the seasons influence the display of forest areas in the satellite image.

Estimate the value of forests for CO2 storage.