![](https://www.ase.org.uk/sites/default/files/Man%20in%20a%20Box.jpg)
In this activity children learn that air is composed of various gases and they determine the importance of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
Description
Prof Iain Stewart, the geologist and TV presenter, sealed himself in a foliage-filled chamber as part of a TV programme. The transparent box, measuring just 2m by 8m by 2.5m, contained nowhere near enough oxygen when it was shut to keep someone alive for 48 hours. To stay alive, Prof Stewart was relying on 150 plants, which would produce the oxygen he needed to keep breathing until he was released.
Children will learn that air is composed of various gases. They will determine the importance of carbon dioxide and oxygen by looking at the results of an investigation. Children will make predictions for different scenarios and draw conclusions.
Learning Objective:
- that oxygen is an essential gas for our survival and that it exists in the air.
Children will learn:
- that air is composed of several gases
- to consider the outcomes of several scenarios by using scientific knowledge
- to consider the ethics of potential experiments
These resources were initially developed in partnership with the Centre for Science Education, Sheffield Hallam University.