Download Day 3 - Calhoun City Schools

CHS Biology Snow Day Assignment: Day 3
Webquest: Using the document below, you will be visiting various websites to learn about the ways that carbon,
nitrogen, phosphorous, and water cycle through the environment. The websites are listed below. You will need to
copy and paste the URL into your computer’s browser. Once you have accessed the site, answer the questions for that
element.
Biogeochemical Cycle Webquest
 1. The Water Cycle
http://education.jlab.org/reading/water_cycle.html
1. The ______________ evaporates _____________ from lakes and oceans. As the air rises, it cools. The water vapor
condenses into tiny droplets of _______________. The droplets crowd together and form a __________. Wind blows
the ______________ towards the land. The tiny droplets join together and fall as precipitation to the ____________.
The water soaks into the ground and collects in ___________. The ___________ that never ends has started again!
2. Identify each number in the picture below
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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 2. The Carbon Cycle : The carbon cycle is the pathway that carbon follows as it moves in and out of living organisms.
Carbon is an element that is found in all organisms, fossil fuels, soil, the ocean, and the atmosphere. We take part in the
carbon cycle by breathing CO2 into the air; autotrophs participate by removing atmospheric CO2 for use in building leaves,
stems and other organs through the process of photosynthesis. As we burn more and more fossil fuels, such as oil and coal,
we release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – more than can be removed by oceans and photosynthetic
organisms. Within the atmosphere, this extra CO2 traps heat. As more CO2 accumulates, the Earth becomes warmer through a
process known as the greenhouse effect.
Go to the following website and answer the questions:
http://nortonbooks.com/college/biology/animations/ch38a03.htm
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/profiles/guest-480
1.
Why do plants and other photosynthetic
organisms need CO2 from the atmosphere?
2. How can carbon move from land to bodies of
water?
3. Describe the way human impact leads to
increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
4. What is the greenhouse effect?
5. How much carbon is stored in the atmosphere as CO2?
6.
What is detritus?
7.
How can human use of fossil fuels be detrimental to the environment?
8.
Describe one of the many paths a carbon molecule can take through the carbon cycle.
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 3. The Nitrogen Cycle : Nitrogen is an essential part of proteins and DNA. Like carbon, nitrogen is recycled continuously.
Complete the animation:
http://www.classzone.com/books/ml_science_share/vis_sim/em05_pg20_nitrogen/em05_pg20_nitrogen.html
Then, review this website and answer the questions.
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/N/NitrogenCycle.html
1. Where is most nitrogen in the biosphere located?
2. This nitrogen is not in a useable form. Plants and animals cannot simply absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere.
Therefore, it must be _____________________ , which means ________________________________.
3. There are two ways that nitrogen can NATURALLY be removed from the atmosphere:
a)
b)
4. What happens to nitrogen inside of a plant?
5. How does the nitrogen get to carnivores?
6. What happens to the nitrogen when organisms die?
7. Go to the following site and place a number next to the steps
involved in the nitrogen cycle: http://ridge.icu.ac.jp/gened/ecosystem-jpgs/nitrogen-cycle.jpg
_______ denitrification = some nitrates are returned to atmosphere by
denitrifying bacteria
_______ assimilation = plants absorb nitrates, incorporate into proteins.
Nitrogen in now in the food chain
_______ nitrogen-fixation = nitrogen in atmosphere converted to
ammonia by lightning or nitrogen-fixing bacteria)
_______ ammonification = dead plants/animals converted to ammonia
by ammonifying bacteria
_______ nitrification = ammonia converted to nitrates by nitrifying
bacteria
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 4. Phosphorus Cycle
http://enviroliteracy.org/air-climate-weather/biogeochemical-cycles/phosphorus-cycle/
1. How does phosphorus initially enter the cycle?
2. What do plants do with it?
3. How do herbivores get it?
4. How do carnivores get it?
5. How do herbivores and carnivores return phosphorus to the cycle?
6. Go to the following site https://bioh.wikispaces.com/More+Elemental+Cycles and fill in the appropriate boxes of the
phosphorus cycle.
a. Phosphates in organic compounds
b. Phosphates in soil (inorganic)
c. Phosphates in rock
d. Phosphates in solution
e. Detritus
f.
Detrivores in soil
g. Precipitated (soild) phosphates
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