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Science
Quarter 4 – Module 6:
Cycling of Materials in the
Ecosystem
Science – Grade 8
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 4 – Module 6: Cycling of Materials in the Ecosystem
First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Ruby E. Alejo

Christian C. Juico
Editor: Maricor V. Santos
Reviewer: Aulene D. Villarta
Illustrator: Sherilou L. Balingbing
Layout Artist: Cressida Madelein D. Gutierrez
Management Team: May B. Eclar, CESO III
Librada M. Rubio, PhD
Ma. Editha R. Caparas, EdD
Nestor R. Nuesca, EdD
Larry B. Espiritu, PhD
Rodolfo A. Dizon, PhD
Mary Queen P. Orpilla, PhD

Printed in the Philippines by ________________________

Department of Education – Region III

Office Address: Matalino St., Diosdado Macapagal Center

Maimpis, City of san Fernando (P)
Telefax: (045) 598-8580 to 89
E-mail Address: region3@deped.gov.ph
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you
master the Cycling of Materials in the Ecosystem. The scope of this module permits
it to be used in many different learning situations. The language used recognizes the
diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard
sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be changed to
correspond with the textbook you are now using.

The module contains:

Lesson 1 – Cycling of Materials in the Ecosystem

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. analyze the roles of microorganisms in the cycling of materials (S8LT-IVi23);
and
2. explain how materials cycle in an ecosystem (S8LT-IVi24).

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 What I Know

Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answers in your
notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

1. If groundwater reaches the surface, how will it re-enter the water cycle?
a. It is dugout.
b. A cloud comes to get it.
c. It travels to the bottom of the Earth.
d. It reenters the Earth by evaporation into the Earth’s atmosphere.

2. How do clouds form?

a. Dirt building up in the air.
b. Electricity forming in dust particles.
c. Pillow-like material mixed with water droplets.
d. Condensed water drops of water mixed with particles of dust.

3. Animals and plants use substances that cycle through the environment. Which
substance is needed by plants to survive and is released into the environment by
animals?
a. carbon dioxide c. salt
b. oxygen d. sugar

4. Which of the following is true on how plants or animals contribute to increase the
amount of oxygen in the atmosphere?
a. Oxygen released by plants c. Oxygen released by animals.
b. Oxygen inhaled by animals d. Oxygen taken in by animals.

5. Which statement best defines photosynthesis?

a. It is a gas in the atmosphere that plants use to make food.
b. It is the movement of carbon dioxide and oxygen between organisms and
the air.
c. It is the process in which plants use energy from the sun to make their own
food.
d. It refers to the tiny holes in the leaves of a plant that allow gases to enter
or leave the plant.

6. What kind of physical change does a plant releasing water vapor into the
atmosphere have?
a. condensation c. transpiration
b. evaporation d. water vapor

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7. What form do most freshwater in the atmosphere have?
a. boiling water c. solid water
b. frozen water d. vapor water

8. Which of the following powers the water cycle?

a. clouds c. Sun
b. Earth d. wind

9. Which of the following is NOT a major process of the water cycle?

a. evaporation c. perspiration
b. condensation d. precipitation

10. What do you call the process in which Nitrogen circulates and being recycled?
a. The carbon cycle c. The water cycle
b. The nitrogen cycle d. Nitrogen fixation

11. What is the process of combining Nitrogen gas with other elements to make
nitrogen into usable compounds?
a. ammonia c. nitrogen fixation
b. denitrification d. nitrogen composition

12. How much of the atmosphere is composed of Nitrogen gas?

a. 21% c. 78%
b. 38% d. 87%

13. Which of the following refers to organisms that break down dead plants & animals
and release nitrogen back into the atmosphere?
a. animals c. plants
b. bacteria d. producers

14. What happens when organisms die and decay?

a. Their bodies are lifted.
b. They keep their nitrogen.
c. They stay on earth forever.
d. Their nitrogen returns to the soil.

15. If the atmosphere is 78% N2, why can't we just get nitrogen by breathing?
a. The legumes take it up first.
b. We need Oxygen for cellular respiration.
c. Our lungs would be damaged by the N2.
d. We have no mechanism to break the triple bond of nitrogen between the
atoms.

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 Lesson
Cycling of Materials in the
1 Ecosystem
All materials on Earth cycle between living organisms and the environment
which is very essential in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. Microorganisms
are very vital for these kinds of cycles; these microorganisms break down dead matter
and release the materials back to the environment.

It is likely that everyone has carbon atoms in their body that were once inside
Jose P. Rizal or any other individual that is now dead. Atoms exist as part of different
compounds and cycle between them through an ecosystem. You can easily find the
materials that cycle between the biotic and abiotic components in the ecosystem.
The biotic components are the living organisms in the ecosystem, such as plants and
animals, while the abiotic components are the non-living parts, such as the soil and
the water.

This cycling is seen in the elements carbon and nitrogen, and in compound
water. Materials in the ecosystem cycle constantly. This cycling of materials includes
the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle, the water cycle, and the nitrogen cycle.

What’s In

Directions: Label the stages of the food chain. Write your answers in your notebook
/or on a separate sheet of paper.

Figure 1. Food Chain

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 Notes to the Facilitator
The activities in this module are arranged from simple to
complex to help the learner gradually master the desired learning
competency. Give him/her the needed support and guidance so that
he/she will be able to perform the tasks to prepare him/her later on
in explaining the cycling of materials in an ecosystem.

What’s New

Directions: Put a checkmark (/) on the column if the given term is related to the
water cycle, oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle, or nitrogen cycle. Copy the table before
answering in your notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

Water Cycle Oxygen-Carbon Nitrogen Cycle

Dioxide Cycle
1. photosynthesis
2. nitrification
3. lightning
4. condensation
5. transpiration
6. respiration
7. evaporation
8. Rhizobia
9. Ammonia
10. runoff
.

What is It

We learned that in an ecosystem, living things interact with non-living things.

Living things depend on their environment to meet their needs to survive. These
needs refer to any material, or matter, required by all living things. For example, an
organism takes in water and food to survive. All the materials that an organism takes
in are returned to the ecosystem, while the organism lives or after it dies. The
movement of matter through the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem is a
continuous process, a cycle. A cycle is a series of events that are regularly repeated
in the same order. Matter never leaves the ecosystem, but may change its form, the
matter is said to cycle through the ecosystem.

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 In fact, one of the reasons why Earth continues to exist is the matter cycling
which provides us the nutrients necessary to live.
Thus, this module will help you explain the three important materials cycling
in ecosystems. These include: The Oxygen-Carbon Dioxide Cycle, The Water Cycle,
and The Nitrogen Cycle.

THE OXYGEN-CARBON DIOXIDE CYCLE

Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants and certain other

organisms transform light energy into chemical energy. During photosynthesis in
green plants, light energy is captured and used to convert water, carbon dioxide, and
minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. (www.britannica.com)

All organisms use and produce gases through the processes of respiration and
photosynthesis. This cyclic process of gases through organisms and the environment
is called the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle (Figure 2).

When plants photosynthesize, or the process by which plants make use of the
carbon dioxide and water with the aid of sunlight to produce oxygen and starch. The
oxygen produced by plants in photosynthesis is used by animals when they breathe;
animals, in turn, produce carbon dioxide.

Like animals, plants also carry out the process of respiration. During
respiration, plants use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. In addition, animals
take in oxygen from the atmosphere and give off carbon dioxide. This occurs day and
night. Plants, however, give off oxygen and take in carbon dioxide when they
photosynthesize during the day. At night, when plants are in darkness and cannot
photosynthesize, they “breathe” just like animals. They take in oxygen and give off
carbon dioxide.

Notice that plants and animals depend on each other for these important
gases. Plants produce oxygen needed by animals. In turn, animals produce carbon
dioxide needed by plants.

Figure 2. The Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Cycle

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THE WATER CYCLE

Water is made up of just two elements: oxygen and hydrogen. It is the only
substance that tends to exist in all three forms of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Water
circulates around the environment – the oceans, land, air, and living organisms. The
movement of water through the environment is called the water cycle.

As water moves through an ecosystem, it changes in physical form, moving

back and forth between gas, liquid, and solid. Water vapor in the atmosphere is the
gaseous form of water. Water that falls to Earth’s surface is referred to as
precipitation. For precipitation to occur, water vapor must condense through a
process known as condensation—it must change into a liquid or solid. This water
can fall as rain, snow, hail, mist, or sleet.

When solar energy warms the Earth’s surface water returns to the
atmosphere, changing back into vapor, a process called evaporation. Living things
also release water vapor. Animals release water vapor when they breathe or respire.
Plants release water vapor through a process called transpiration.

Water cycles through the living and non-living parts of the ecosystems.
Animals drink water, which later leaves their bodies as sweat or urine. Plants take
up water from the soil through their roots. Much of the evaporation of water in the
land ecosystems occurs from the leaves of plants.

These are some important terms that you should remember in this cycle:

Accumulation is the collection of water on land.

Atmosphere refers to the mass of air surrounding the Earth.
Condensation is the transformation of water vapor back into liquid water by cooling.
Evaporation is the process in which the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the
ocean and turns it into vapor; the water vapor goes into the air where it becomes a
cloud.
Infiltration is the process of water passing into, or through the land by filtering.
Precipitation refers to rain, hail, or snow falling from the clouds due to the
condensation of water.
Runoff happens when water from rain or snow flows over the surface of the land and
into streams, rivers, lakes, oceans.
Transpiration is the process by which plants release water through the pores in
their leaves.
Water cycle is the constant movement of water from oceans and lakes, evaporating
into the air as water vapor, condensing into clouds and precipitating as rain or snow
onto land and back into oceans and lakes.
Water table is the location of the underground water and the vertical distance from
the surface of the Earth to this underground water.

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 Figure 3. The Water Cycle

THE NITROGEN CYCLE

About 78 percent of the gases in the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen gas.
It cannot be absorbed by living things on its own for use, and we breathe in and out.
But nitrogen and other elements in combination with other elements are vital to life.
Almost four-fifths of the air you breathe is clear, colorless nitrogen gas. Yet,
you cannot get the nitrogen you need to live in the air. All animals must get nitrogen
from plants. Plants cannot use pure nitrogen gas either. However, plants can absorb
certain compounds of nitrogen. Plants take in these nitrogen compounds through
their roots, along with water and other nutrients.
Organisms use nitrogen to build proteins and nucleic acids. Some bacteria
convert nitrogen to ammonia. This process is called nitrogen fixation.
The Nitrogen cycle is mainly carried out by bacteria, fungi, and blue-green
algae which fix the nitrogen from the air into usable compounds of nitrogen. These
nitrogen-fixers generally reside in the soil or on the roots of plants. Like leguminous
plants like green peas, beans, alfalfa, clover, lupines etc.
Rhizobia are bacteria that are found in the soil that form root nodules by
settling in the roots of legumes. After nodule formation, they fix nitrogen gas (N2)
from the atmosphere turning it into a usable form of nitrogen.
Ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3–) are the predominant inorganic forms
of nitrogen in soils. Ammonium exists in exchangeable and non-exchangeable forms.
Nitrite (NO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are present in the soil in lesser quantities.
Plants normally use nitrogen in only the ammonium and nitrate forms.

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How does the nitrogen from the atmosphere get into the soil?
One source is lightning. Every lightning strike breaks apart, or fixes, pure
nitrogen, changing it into a form that plants can use. This form of nitrogen falls to
the ground when it rains.
A far greater source of nitrogen is nitrogen-fixing bacteria. These bacteria live
in the oceans as well as the soil. Some even attach themselves to the roots of certain
plants, like alfalfa or soybeans. When organisms die, decomposers in the ocean or
soil break them down. Nitrogen in the soil or water is used again by living things. A
small amount is returned to the atmosphere by certain bacteria that can break down
nitrogen compounds into nitrogen gas.

How nitrogen becomes available to living things and gets back to nature?
The nitrogen compounds these nitrogen-fixing organisms fix are released into
the soil and become available when they die, and then this fixed nitrogen moves up
the food chains. Nitrogen comes back into the cycle when dead plants and animals
decompose, and when animals excrete. The excreted matter is converted into nitrates
after complex bacteria acts on it. Various compounds of nitrogen then cycle from the
earth to plants to bacteria and back to the earth again and again without getting
back to the air. But, sometimes denitrifying also happens (denitrifying means to
remove nitrogen or a nitrogen compound from a substance) bacteria and fungi
usually break down nitrogen compounds and release nitrogen back into the
atmosphere.

Nitrogenase (Nase) is an enzyme that fixes atmospheric nitrogen (N 2) into

ammonia. Though abundantly present in the atmosphere, most organisms cannot
utilize N2 directly, and must instead take it in through other forms, like ammonia or
nitrate. The triple bond in N2 is highly resistant to changes in oxidation state, and
nitrogenases, found only in nitrogen-fixing bacteria, are the only proteins capable of
reducing N2 to ammonia.

The nitrogen cycle, shown in Figure 4 below, is a complex process with

four important stages.

1. Nitrogen Fixation (Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria) these are special bacteria that

convert the nitrogen gas (N2) to ammonia (NH3) which the plants can use.

2. Nitrification is the process that converts ammonia into nitrite ions which the
plants can take in as nutrients.

3. Ammonification is when after all the living organisms have used the nitrogen,
decomposer bacteria convert the nitrogen-rich waste compounds into simpler ones.

4. Denitrification is the final stage in which other bacteria convert the

simple nitrogen compounds back into nitrogen gas (N2), which is then released back
into the atmosphere to begin the cycle again.

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 Figure 4. The Nitrogen Cycle

What’s More

Activity 1: Carbon Dioxide Cycle

Directions: Label the given diagram of the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle and write
your answers in your notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

1.

4.

2.

3.
3.

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Activity 2.

Directions. Write TRUE if the statement is correct. Otherwise, FALSE. Write your
answer in your notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

1. The oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle is very important to all ecosystems, and

ultimately give life on earth.
2. Plants produce excess oxygen during photosynthesis which is released into
the atmosphere.
3. Oxygen is a living element that humans and animals require to live.
4. Oxygen released by plants causes an increase in the oxygen level in the
Atmosphere
5. Plants release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which animals inhale.
Animals exhale oxygen into the atmosphere which is breathed in by plants.
6. Plants use the Sun's energy and carbon dioxide to make glucose, and
release oxygen that animals breathe.
7. Animals provide oxygen for plants and plants provide carbon dioxide.
for the animals.
8. There is a continuous exchange of gases in the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle.
9. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by consumers to make carbohydrates in
photosynthesis.
10. Animals breathe in oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis.

Activity 3. Water Cycle

Directions: Fill in the boxes to identify the processes involved in the given cycle
and write your answers in your notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

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 1. E A P R A I O

2. O N N S I O

3. P E C P I A T O N

4. T A N P R A I O N

Activity 4: Nitrogen Cycle

Directions: Arrange the bold letters in each number. Use the image below and
the descriptions as your reference to identify the correct words. Write your answers
in your notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Every H L I G T N I G N strike breaks apart, or fixes, pure nitrogen, changing

it into a form that plants can use.
2. Z R H I A B O I are bacteria that are found in the soil that form root nodules by
settling in the roots of legumes
3. F D R E N I T I Y G I N means to remove nitrogen or a nitrogen compound from
a substance.
4. The excreted matter converts into N S I A T R T E after complex bacteria acts
on it.

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 5. Almost four-fifths of the air you breathe is clear, colorless T N I G R O N E gas.
6. All animals must get nitrogen from SLPANTS.
7. ASPIRANTRIONT is the process by which plants release water through the
pores in their leaves.
8. Another source of nitrogen is NEGORINT GINIFX which live in the oceans as
well as the soil.
9. FILINTRIOANT is the process of water passing into, or through land by filtering.

10. GENOTRIN cannot be absorbed by living things on its own for use, and we
breathe it in and back out again.

What I Have Learned

Directions: Provide the missing word/s to complete the whole idea. Write your
answers in your notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

(1)____________, the process by which green plants and certain other

organisms transform light energy into chemical energy. During photosynthesis in
green plants, light energy is captured and used to convert water, carbon dioxide, and
minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds.

When plants photosynthesize, they use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
Oxygen produced by plants in photosynthesis is used by animals when they respire;
animals in turn produce carbon dioxide. Like animals, plants also carry out the
process of (2)___________. During respiration, plants use (3)_________ and
(4)_____________(5)_______________.

(6)___________ it is the only substance that has a tendency to exist in all three
forms of matter: solid, liquid, and gas it is stored on Earth’s surface in lakes, rivers,
and oceans, found underground, filling the spaces between soil particles and cracks
in rocks. Large amounts of water are stored in glaciers and polar ice sheets. Water
is also part of the bodies of living things. But water is not just stored, it is constantly
moving. The movement of water through the environment is called the Water cycle.
Water is made up of just two elements: oxygen and hydrogen. The following are the
five (5) processes which makes up the Hydrologic or water Cycle (7)__________,
(8)____________, (9)__________, (10)_________, and (11)_______________.

About 78 percent of the gases in the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen gas It

cannot be absorbed by living things on its own for use, and we breathe it in and back
out again. But nitrogen another element in combination with other elements is vital
to life.
Almost four-fifths of the air you breathe is clear, colorless nitrogen gas. Yet,
you cannot get the nitrogen you need to live in the air. All animals must get nitrogen

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from plants. Plants cannot use pure nitrogen gas either. However, plants can absorb
certain compounds of nitrogen. Plants take in these nitrogen compounds through
their roots, along with water and other nutrients.

Organisms use nitrogen to build proteins and nucleic acids. Some bacteria
convert nitrogen to ammonia. This process is called nitrogen fixation. There are 4
stages in nitrogen cycle (12)______________,(13)_____________(14)__________________,
(15)_______________________.

What I Can Do

Directions: Identify the processes that take place in the Carbon Cycle. Write your
answers in your notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

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 Assessment

Directions: Choose the letter that corresponds to your answer and write it in your
notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Animals use oxygen for _____________.

a. breathing c. making glucose
b. creating food d. transpiration

2. It acts as an important ingredient of food for all living beings through the process
of photosynthesis.
a. Carbon c. Water
b. Nitrogen d. None of these

3. It cannot be absorbed by living things on its own for use, and we breathe it in and
back out again.
a. Carbon c. Water
b. Nitrogen d. None of these

4. It is the process by which plants release water through the pores in their leaves.
a. Condensation c. Precipitation
b. Photosynthesis d. Transpiration

5. It is a process where organisms break down the carbon compounds to release the
energy in food.
a. Combustion c. Precipitation
b. Photosynthesis d. Respiration

6. It is the process in which the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean
and turns it into vapor.
a. Condensation c. Infiltration
b. Evaporation d. Precipitation

7. It is the process of water passing into, or through the land by filtering.

a. Condensation c. Infiltration
b. Evaporation d. Precipitation

8. It refers to rain, hail, or snow falling from the clouds due to the condensation of
water.
a. Condensation c. Infiltration
b. Evaporation d. Precipitation

9. It is the transformation of water vapor back into liquid water by cooling.

a. Condensation c. Infiltration
b. Evaporation d. Precipitation

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10. These are special bacteria that convert the nitrogen gas (N2) to ammonia (NH3)
which the plants can use.
a. Ammonification c. Nitrification
b. Denitrification d. Nitrogen Fixation

11. It is the process that converts the ammonia into nitrite ions which the plants can
take in as nutrients.
a. Ammonification c. Nitrification
b. Denitrification d. Nitrogen Fixation

12. This happens after all of the living organisms have used the nitrogen, decomposer
bacteria convert the nitrogen-rich waste compounds into simpler ones.
a. Ammonification c. Nitrification
b. Denitrification d. Nitrogen Fixation

13. It is the final stage in which other bacteria convert the simple nitrogen
compounds back into nitrogen gas.
a. Ammonification c. Nitrification
b. Denitrification d. Nitrogen Fixation

14. It is the only substance which has a tendency to exist in all three forms of
matter.
a. Carbon dioxide c. Nitrogen
b. Oxygen d. Water

15. The ____________ shows the interdependence among organisms for these
important gases.
a. Water cycle c. Krebs cycle
b. Nitrogen Cycle d. Oxygen-Carbon Dioxide Cycle

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 Additional Activities

Directions: Copy the illustration and label the diagram using the words below the
image. Do this in your notebook/on a separate sheet of paper.

6 5
3

4
7

The Nitrogen Cycle

https://www.liveworksheets.com/oj1319404ko

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Answer Key

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