Transcript CYCLES IN NATURE

Biogeochemical Cycles
• Cycling of materials between
the environment and organisms
• Chemical and biological
processes
• Examples
– Water cycle
– Nitrogen cycle
– Phosphorus cycle
– Carbon cycle
Water Cycle
• Life depends on
water
• Water is continually
cycled through the
environment through
– Precipitation
– Evaporation
– Transpiration
– Condensation
– Percolation
Circle of Life
Father: Everything you see exists together, in
a delicate balance. As king, you need to
understand that balance, and respect all the
creatures-- from the crawling ant to the
leaping antelope.
Son: But, Dad, don't we eat the antelope?
Father: Yes, Son, but let me explain. When we
die, our bodies become the grass. And the
antelope eat the grass. And so we are all
connected in the great Circle of Life.
Tracing Matter
(GRANJOHN Worksheet)
Grandma Johnson
?
Describe the path of a carbon atom from
Grandma Johnson’s remains, to inside the leg
muscle of a coyote. NOTE: The coyote does not
dig up and consume any part of Grandma
Johnson’s remains.
Environmental Literacy
Research Group
Carbon Cycle
• All living organisms are
made up of carbon
molecules
• Autotrophs use energy
from the sun to convert
CO2 (carbon
dioxide)and water to
C6H12O6 (glucose)and
oxygen
• Autotrophs use these
molecules for energy
and growth
• Heterotrophs also use
these molecules for
energy and growth
Name three ways that Carbon is returned to the atmosphere.
Name the process by which plants take Carbon out of the atmosphere.
What activity in the diagram represents a type of pollution?
What is the term for Carbon stored long term that can only be released
by combustion?
What process moves CO2 from the atmosphere to the ocean?
What process in aquatic and terrestrial environments moves carbon into
a state where it will be stored for millions of years?
Which process puts carbon into the 1st trophic level of a food chain?
Carbon Cycle
• Carbon returns
to the
atmosphere
through
– Respiration
– Decay
– Pollution
Carbon Cycle
Game
Inputs and Outputs – Tracing Carbon
Grandma
Johnson
C6H12O6
Decomposers
CO2
Creosote
Bush
C6H12O6
Destruction
of organic
carbon
- Cellular
Respiration
Rabbit
Generation of organic carbon
- Photosynthesis
C6H12O6
Coyote
Transfer of organic carbon
- Food Chain
The Long Term Carbon Cycle
• Fossil Fuels
– Made up of carbon compounds
from the bodies of organisms that
died millions of years ago.
– Examples include:
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural Gas
Excessive Carbon Dioxide
• The industrial revolution
has increased
atmospheric CO2
• CO2 is a greenhouse
gas
• Increased CO2 leads to
over-insulation of the
Earth’s atmosphere
and is one contributor
to climate change.
The Long Term Carbon Cycle
Carbon gets converted to carbonates, which
make up the hard parts of bones and shells.
Carbonate deposits form huge
formations of limestone rocks.
Limestone typically forms in
warm, shallow marine waters
Nitrogen Cycle
• Earth’s atmosphere is approximately 78%
nitrogen
• Proteins, DNA, and RNA contain nitrogen
• It is an essential element of life
• Nitrogen CAN’T be used in it’s
atmospheric form
Nitrogen Cycle
• Atmospheric
nitrogen is in a form
that is not useable
by living organisms
• Nitrogen-fixing
bacteria convert
atmospheric
nitrogen to a
useable form
(nitrogen fixation)
Nodules on the roots of plants
called legumes (peas, beans,
and clover) or in soil house the
bacteria.
Plants obtain nitrogen
from nitrogen-fixing
bacteria and pass it to
other organisms through
the food chain.
Nitrogen returns to the soil through animal
waste and decay
Bacteria also works on nitrogen in the soil to release it
back to the atmosphere (denitrification)
Lightning fixes nitrogen
What is Phosphorus
•
•
•
•
Needed to form bones and teeth
Obtained by plants from soil and water
Obtained by animals from plants
Rarely occurs as a gas
The Phosphorus Cycle
The movement of phosphorous from the
environment to organisms and back again.
Phosphorous Cycle
• Enters water and soil by:
– Rock erosion – dissolves as phosphate in
soil and water
– Plants absorb phosphate through roots
– Excretion, death, and decomposition
– Washes into the ocean, sinks, and
accumulates as sediment.
Phosphorous Cycle
Short Term
Soil
Long Term
Sedimentation
of rocks
Producers
Consumers
Wastes /
Composition
Precipitation
&
Weathering
of rocks
Where do you think the long and short term
might cross over?
“In Nature, there are neither
rewards or punishments– there
are consequences.”
----R. G. Ingersoll
What are some of the negative
consequences of humans effecting
the carbon, Nitrogen, and
Phosphorus Cycles?
• Global climate
change
• Destruction of
ecological systems
• Algal blooms
•
•
•
•
Fish kills
Acid rain
Soil erosion
Degradation of
coral reefs
What are the benefits of the human activities
that affect these cycles? Why do we continue
to impact the cycles despite the negatives?
• More fertilizers and powerful machinery means
more food production and more profit for
producers and cheaper prices for consumers.
• Affordable fuel prices (compared to many
countries) allow us to use multiple vehicles in our
families and travel easily from place to place.
• Find more examples of how we effect nature’s
cycles for point passes!! Write a short paragraph
about the positive and negative consequences.