Carbon Cycle

• Carbon=building block of life.

• List sources of carbon found in our
environment:
– CO2 gas in atmosphere
– Bicarbonate
– Fossil fuels
– Carbonate rocks
– Dead organic matter
• Which two organisms most commonly
transfer carbon? plants and animals
• What two processes account for most of
the movement of carbon? Respiration or
decomposition of organisms
 The Nitrogen Cycle
• About 78% of Earth’s
atmosphere is made of=
Nitrogen
• Nitrogen fixation= bacteria
convert gaseous nitrogen into
ammonia
• What organisms go through
nitrogen fixation? bacteria
• What do these organisms
release in the soil after
nitrogen fixation? ammonia
• Who collects these resources
from nitrogen fixation in the
soil? plants
• Denitrifying bacteria use
nitrate as an oxygen source,
releasing nitrogen gas into the
atmosphere as a waste
product.
 The Phosphorus Cycle
• Where does most of this
cycle occur? At and below
ground level
• What releases the
phosphate for this cycle to
begin? Weathering of rocks
• Who collects this
phosphate in the ground?
Plants and some fungi
• Who moves phosphorus
through the food web?
Producers to consumers
• After many years of being on the
bottom of a body of water in
sediments, what does phosphorus
eventually become? Rock
• What two events can also increase
the amount of phosphorus in the
environment? Mining and
agricultural runoff
• How is phosphorus harmful to our
environment in increased amounts?
– impacts growth of plants
– Algal blooms=Crowding out
native species
 The Oxygen Cycle
What is needed for cellular • What gas is oxygen converted to
respiration? Oxygen and inside of animals and released as?
Carbon dioxide
glucose

What takes in Oxygen?

Living organisms that
respire.