What Causes Global Warming?

There are several processes that contribute to global warming by releasing greenhouse gases, such as methane, water vapor, and carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere. Processes like burning, also known as combustion, and deforestation contribute to global warming as they cause an increase of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In this activity, students will create a spider map that describes and illustrates several of these processes.

There are also natural processes that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere such as respiration, decomposition, and volcanic eruptions. As an extension, have your students complete this activity again just using natural processes that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

This could be used as a stimulus for discussion on how we as a planet can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere.

Student Instructions

Describe and illustrate processes that contribute to global warming.

1. Click "Start Assignment".
2. Identify four processes that contribute to global warming in the title boxes.
3. Write a sentence describing each one.
4. Illustrate the effect using a combination of scenes, characters, and items.