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Activity 8: The Carbon Cycle
• Read the introduction to Activity 8 (pg. 96).
Record the challenge questions and define
the key terms in your lab notebook.
• Challenge: How does human activity
affect the movement of carbon through the
carbon cycle?
• Key Terms:
• Carbon Cycle:
• Carbon Reservoir:
Carbon cycle
• The movement of carbon between a
carbon reserves.
• The movement of carbon within an
ecosystem.
Carbon reservoir
• A natural feature, such as a rock, a pinch of
soil, or an organism, that stores carboncontaining molecule and exchanges them with
other carbon reservoirs.
Why is carbon important?
Contained within carbohydrates, fats,
proteins and nucleic acids
 Fundamental to life
 Found in all living things
 Found in the air, the land and water
 Part of fossil fuels

The chemical structure of coal, which can be
converted into liquid fuels and chemicals.
Carbon Cycle
Carbon Cycle Processes
What processes absorb carbon?
• Photosynthesis
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) in
• Carbon is incorporated into carbohydrates
(food) in plants
• Carbon is moved through the food web
Carbon Cycle Processes
What processes absorb carbon?
• Oceans
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolves in the water
at the surface
• Used by plants and phytoplankton in
photosynthesis
• Stored in shells and coral reefs
Carbon Cycle Processes
What processes return carbon dioxide to the
environment?
• Waste and Decay
• Consumers obtain carbon through their
food release some in their waste
• When dead organisms are broken down,
carbon is released back into the
atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2) and
methane (CH4)
• Carbon from waste and decay can also end
up in sedimentary rocks
Carbon Cycle Processes
What processes return carbon dioxide to the
environment?
• Respiration (breathing)
• Oxygen (O2) in
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) out
• Plants, animals, and microorganisms respire
Carbon Cycle Processes
What processes return carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere?
• Burning Fossil Fuels
• Fossil fuels (like coal and oil) contain
carbon.
• When they are burned for energy, CO2 is
released back into the atmosphere
Carbon Cycle Processes
What processes return carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere?
• Forest Fires
• Carbon trapped in plants
• Carbon is released into the atmosphere
when the plants burn
Carbon Cycle
Carbon Cycle Video
How is human activity affecting the carbon
cycle?