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9th grade The greenhouse effect worksheet

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The greenhouse effect

Grade 9 Science Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    Energy flows as a share of incoming sunlight (NASA)

    FlowShare of incoming sunlight
    Reflected to space29%
    Absorbed by the atmosphere23%
    Absorbed by the surface48%
    Infrared up from the surface117%
    Infrared back down to the surface100%
    Infrared from the surface straight to space12%
    Infrared from the atmosphere to space59%
  2. Using the table, the surface sends up 117% and gets 100% back. What is the net upward infrared, by Bo's math (NASA)?

    • 17% of incoming sunlight
    • 1.17% of incoming sunlight
    • 217% of incoming sunlight
    • 59% of incoming sunlight
  3. Using the table, about 12% escapes straight to space and 59% leaves from the atmosphere. What is the total leaving as infrared, by Jun's math?

    • About 29%
    • About 47%
    • About 117%
    • About 71%
  4. A molecule with infrared arrows going up and down. What do greenhouse gas molecules do after absorbing thermal infrared, by Kira's reading (NASA)?

    • Store the heat for good and stop radiating
    • Turn the infrared into visible light
    • Warm up and radiate infrared in all directions
    • Reflect each ray straight back down, like a mirror
  5. Sunlight arrows in, and infrared arrows going up, back down and out to space. Why is the surface warmer than sunlight alone would make it, by Luz's reading (NASA)?

    • The ground makes its own extra heat each day
    • The air keeps sunlight from leaving again
    • Back radiation from the atmosphere adds heat
    • Reflected sunlight lands twice on the ground
  6. Use this

    Absorption bands for water vapor and CO₂, with a window near 10 micrometers.

  7. NASA: water vapor lets some infrared through a window. Around what wavelength is that window centered, by Noah's reading?

    • About 1 micrometer
    • About 100 micrometers
    • About 0.5 micrometers
    • About 10 micrometers
  8. NASA: CO₂ strongly absorbs infrared longer than about 12 to 13 micrometers. What does more CO₂ do to the window, by Pia's reading?

    • Opens it wider, so more heat escapes
    • Leaves it unchanged, since water vapor controls it
    • Partly closes it, so less heat escapes
    • Blocks more sunlight from coming in
  9. Why does adding CO₂ matter even though water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas, by Ren's reading (NASA)?

    • Water vapor does not absorb any infrared
    • CO₂ absorbs the same wavelengths, so it adds little
    • CO₂ absorbs wavelengths that water vapor lets through
    • CO₂ reflects incoming sunlight back to space
  10. Table, Greenhouse gas levels (IPCC AR6; NOAA), with columns Gas, Level

    Carbon dioxide (CO₂), 2019, 410 ppm; Carbon dioxide, before about 1750, 280 ppm or less; Methane (CH₄), 2019, 1866 ppb; Nitrous oxide (N₂O), 2019, 332 ppb.

  11. Using the table, how much higher was CO₂ in 2019 than before about 1750, by Tala's math?

    • About 130 ppm
    • About 1,456 ppm
    • About 1.5 ppm
    • About 690 ppm
  12. Using the table, the 2019 CO₂ level is about how many times the level before about 1750, by Zee's math?

    • About 1.5 times
    • About 15 times
    • About 0.7 times
    • About 130 times
  13. Which two gases in the table are given in parts per billion, by Ari's reading?

    • Carbon dioxide and methane
    • Methane and nitrous oxide
    • Oxygen and nitrogen
    • Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide
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9th grade The greenhouse effect worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Explain how the greenhouse effect warms Earth. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can explain that sunlight arrives mostly as visible light, the surface gives off thermal infrared, and greenhouse gases absorb that infrared and radiate some back down.
  • I can name greenhouse gases (water vapor, CO₂, methane) and explain why nitrogen and oxygen are not, and how CO₂ partly closes the window near 10 micrometers.
  • I can read NASA's energy budget in percent of incoming sunlight and compute net and total flows.

Standard: HS-ESS2-4

Words to know

greenhouse gas: A gas that absorbs and gives off thermal infrared, like CO₂

thermal infrared: Heat energy radiated by warm surfaces, invisible to the eye

back radiation: Infrared the atmosphere radiates down to the surface

atmospheric window: Infrared wavelengths, near 10 micrometers, that water vapor lets escape

energy budget: How incoming sunlight is reflected, absorbed and radiated away

ppm / ppb: Parts per million / parts per billion of the air

Common mistakes

Your child mixed up incoming sunlight and outgoing infrared. NASA: sunlight arrives mostly as visible and near-infrared light; greenhouse gases absorb the thermal infrared the surface gives off.

Your child picked the wrong greenhouse gases. NASA: oxygen and nitrogen let infrared through; water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and other trace gases absorb it.

Your child thought greenhouse gases trap or reflect heat. NASA: the molecules absorb infrared, warm up, and radiate it in all directions; some returns to the surface.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with the greenhouse effect?

Your child mixed up incoming sunlight and outgoing infrared. NASA: sunlight arrives mostly as visible and near-infrared light; greenhouse gases absorb the thermal infrared the surface gives off.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

More earth and space science

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