7-8 A Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) Comic Book Created to Sustain Texas STEM and Public Acceptance: Carbon-nots to the Rescue!

Session: A Change in Focus for Sustainability in Geoscience Education

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The Carbon-nots to the Rescue comic book was designed as supplemental material to help middle school science teachers explain new concepts within revised state educational standards for Texas students, known as Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). This comic book colorfully illustrates the importance of chemistry (e.g., elements and molecules) and outlines how innovative technology in Texas, known as CCS, will help decrease atmospheric greenhouse gases. The comic is currently used to help clarify STEM concepts in both middle schools and high schools and is also useful for general audiences. This comes at a critical time as CCS is accelerating, and as Texas approaches  CCS primacy. CCS primacy removes federal oversight and allows a state to regulate and permit Class VI underground injection control wells for carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which will likely grow in the U.S. and increase business investments.

Riveting content in the comic book aligns well with TEKS standards designed for seventh and eighth graders (TEKS S.7.6.A–C; S.8.11.A–C). By utilizing TEKS S.8.11.B, the comic book narrates how greenhouse gases are released from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil), solid waste, and trees as well as during various chemical reactions necessary for industrialization (e.g., manufacturing of cement). The comic illustrates how greenhouse gases are absorbed by photosynthetic organisms and how deforestation and urbanization negatively affect the natural balance of the carbon cycle.

Join two Northern Mockingbirds, the state birds of Texas, as they repeatedly share their observations in a Carbon-not adventure with students. See Texas kids and their new feathered friends discuss cutting edge chemical solutions to reduce our carbon output into the atmosphere (e.g., capturing and separating CO₂ and injecting CO₂ underground permanently). Delve into new vocabulary and explore student creativity through critical thinking questions, a coloring page for all ages, a vocabulary list, and a carbon cycle exercise made for the classroom and science exploration events. It’s time to make this a global phenomenon!

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-9721

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