APPS FOR THE STUDY OF THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND GLOBAL WARMING

The natural greenhouse effect is due mainly to the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere. Other gases responsible for this effect are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hyidrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Human activities can increase the amount of these gases in the atmosphere, intensifying the greenhouse effect and provoking global warming.

When the greenhouse effect and global warming are discussed in the context of teaching sciences, especially in Chemistry, an attempt is made to provide an understanding of the chemical processes involved with their environmental implications.

In order to enable this understanding with the support of digital technologies, we investigated Apps for smartphones and tablets with a potential to provide information for the study of the greenhouse effect and global warming. For this purpose Apps were searched for in the virtual stores "App Store" and "Play Store", using the key-words "global warming" and “greenhouse effect”. As a result, initially 45 Apps were identified in the App Store and 13 Apps in the Play Store. Based on the analysis of these Apps, they were classified as to nature, and Apps were identified with games for different age ranges, Apps with augmented reality, Apps to measure the amount of CO2 emitted (CO2 Footprint), simulators, books, materials to be consulted. Some of these Apps are appropriate for the study of the greenhouse effect and global warming, describing their main characteristics and potential to problematize the chemical processes involved with their environmental implications.