Download carbonandnitrogencycle

Warm Up
*Put homework on your desk to be collected
*Write your answers in complete sentences
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•
Which gas is the most common in the air
around you?
How are the 3 cycles that you learned about
yesterday similar?
Carbon cycle
Two important gases in air are oxygen
(O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon
cycle
CO2
O2
CO2
O2
Consumers
Water
Organisms take in oxygen and
give off carbon dioxide during
respiration
CO2
Producers
Plants take in carbon dioxide
and give off oxygen during
photosynthesis
Decomposer
Fungi and bacteria release carbon dioxide
as they break down dead organisms and
wastes
Carbon dioxide oxygen cycle
All animals breathe in oxygen and give
out a waste gas called carbon dioxide
during respiration (food breakdown)
Carbon dioxide oxygen cycle
Green plants take in carbon dioxide and use
it to make food during photosynthesis. They
release oxygen as a waste product
Carbon cycle
In this way, both oxygen and carbon dioxide
are recycled through the atmosphere and
through organisms
Burning a lot of fossil fuels while cutting down
a lot of trees increases the level of CO2 in the
atmosphere
*How does carbon get into the
atmosphere?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
burning fossil fuels
respiration
Decay
Wildfires
Carbon dioxide exchange at the sea surface
*How does carbon get out of the
atmosphere?
• Photosynthesis
Carbon cycle
The increased CO2 scientist believe
contributes to global warming
Steps of the Carbon Cycle
• 1. Animals inhale air, use the oxygen and
breathe out CO2
• 2. Plants take in CO2 and release oxygen
Nitrogen cycle
Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the
earth’s atmosphere—78%
All organisms need nitrogen but only a few
can use it in the gas form
Nitrogen cycle
Nitrogen fixing bacteria change nitrogen
gas into a solid form that other organisms
can use
Fixed nitrogen (nitrates and ammonium) can
be used by plants to make proteins
Nitrogen cycle
Animals, like us humans, get our nitrogen by
eating plants or other animals. Humans use
nitrogen to build components such as protein
and DNA
Nitrogen cycle
DNA is the structure in all
organisms that helps them
to pass on their traits to
their young ones
Nitrogen cycle
When plants and animals die, they decay and are
broken down by decomposers.
Decomposers add nitrogen to the soil
Nitrogen
cycle
Nitrogen cycle
Steps of the Nitrogen Cycle
1. Nitrogen goes from atmosphere to soil (in rain)
2. Plants get nitrogen from the soil
3. Animals eat plants, putting nitrogen in their bodies
4. Plant or Animal dies, nitrogen returns to soil during decay
Steps of the nitrogen cycle
*The N Cycle
• Although 80% of the air we breathe is N, we cannot
get N from the air
• N gas must be broken down by lightning, fire, or
bacteria before plants & animals can use it
*Then N Cycle, continued
• Plants then absorb N from water or the soil
• Animals get N by eating plants or other animals
• Bacteria turn N from animal waste & dead animals
back into N gas, & the N cycle starts over!!
Be the Atom!
• Pick if you want to be a carbon atom or a
nitrogen atom
• Trace your journey through the cycle returning to
the point of origin
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–
–
Journal entries (as if an alien visiting a micro world)
Poetry
Story
Choose the music from a song and fit your journey to
music
– Cartoon form
Sample
Being a nitrogen atom was getting boring, especially as I drifted through the sea. I needed to
get as far away from here as possible. One day, as I am minding my own business, a
denitrifying bacteria comes up to me and asks, “ Want a little adventure in your life?” I
couldn’t say no to a ticket out of here.
Suddenly, I am pulled away from my oxygen parts, and I start floating up into the clouds. What
a view! The atmosphere was so high up that I could see everything! And I also met many of
my fellow nitrogen molecules. I started drifting back down to see land beneath me.
Then, as soon as I was close enough to a legume, a nitrogen-fixing bacteria takes me in and
fixes me up with some hydrogen ions. But as soon as this happened, a plant sucks me into
its roots. I stayed in the plant for a while, but when the plant died, I was decomposed and
returned to the soil.
When I was in the soil, I went through a similar process and became ammonium. But I met
some new bacteria friends that converted me into a nitrite ion. Then, another bacteria
transformed me back into just nitrogen, and I floated back into the atmosphere.
But my time in the air didn’t last long. I was fixed into ammonium again, but this time, I was in
the ocean. Some nitrifying bacteria turned me into a nitrite ion. Then I was immediately
turned into a nitrate ion. What an adventure!
• Step 1. Outline
– Before you start you must outline your journey to
make sure that they have the correct steps
– Use textbook (13A) and notes
– Be creative!!
• Step 2. Get outline checked
• Step 3. Create story
Exit
1. How are the carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle
alike?
2. How are the carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle
different?