Nutrient Cycles

Cycles of Matter

Review!

The Water Cycle

Evaporation --> Condensation --> Precipitation

Three important processes of the Water Cycle

• Evaporation --> liquid turning into a gas

• Condensation --> gas turning into a liquid, forms clouds

• Precipitation --> liquid droplets falling from the clouds

Multiple Choice

Which describes the process of evaporation?

• puddle on a warm day disappearing into thin air.

• water droplets on a window

• rain

Multiple Choice

What process forms clouds?

• Evaporation

• Condensation

• Precipitation

• Transpiration

Transpiration

Plants are sweating! Water vapor is escaping through their leaves.

Fill in the Blank

Sweating is to humans as ______________ is to plants.

The Carbon-Oxygen Cycle

Key Words

Producer, Consumer, Decomposer, Photosynthesis, Respiration

Key Vocabulary Words

• Producer --> organisms that gain energy by making their own food, goes through photosynthesis

• Consumer --> organisms that need to eat other organisms to gain energy.

• Decomposer--> organism that breaks down dead organisms and returns nutrients back to the soil.

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of a producer?

• Algae

• Cow

• Worm

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of a decomposer?

• Bacteria

• Algae

• Humans

Key Vocabulary Words Continued

• Photosynthesis --> process that plants go through to produce food and release oxygen to humans.

• Respiration --> The breathing process

Multiple Choice

What three things do plants need to go through photosynthesis?

• Carbon Dioxide, fish, food

• Carbon Dioxide, sunlight, water

• Oxygen, Sunlight, Water

Multiple Choice

What do humans breathe in?

• Oxygen

• Carbon Dioxide

Multiple Choice

What gas do plants absorb?

• Carbon Dioxide

• Oxygen

How Humans Impact the Carbon-Oxygen Cycle!

Humans complete everyday activities that impact the Carbon-Oxygen Cycle.

*Burn Fossil Fuelds (gasoline, oil)

*Deforestation (cut down trees)

*Build Fires

*Breathe (humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide)

Open Ended

What would happen to the carbon-oxygen cycle if all the producers died?

The Nitrogen Cycle

Decomposer, Nitrogen Fixation, Nodules, Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria

Key Terms

• Decomposer --> Breaks down organisms and returns nitrogen back into the soil

• Nitrogen Fixation --> process that turns "free nitrogen" into usable nitrogen.

• Nodules --> Bumps on roots of plants that house bacteria.

• Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria --> Housed in the nodules of plants, changes nitrogen into usable form.

Nitrogen Cycle Key Concepts

• ALL Organisms need nitrogen

• About 78 % of our air is nitrogen

• We CANNOT use the "free nitrogen" in the air that is why it must be "fixed" first.

• Plants get nitrogen through their roots from the soil.

• Animals get nitrogen by consuming other things that have nitrogen in them (plants or other animals)

Multiple Select

Choose which percentage of nitrogen makes up the air.

• 78 %

• 92 %

• 100 %

Multiple Choice

Which organisms need nitrogen?

• Plants

• Animals

• Humans

• All of the Above

Multiple Choice

We can use the "free" nitrogen that is in the air.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Open Ended

What would happen if all the nitrogen-fixing organisms died?

Open Ended

What would happen if one part of a cycle did not happen?

Carbon Cycle

Ms. M

Multiple Choice

When humans burn fossil fuels, most of the carbon quickly enters the as carbon dioxide.

• Water

• Atmosphere

• Sun

• Air

Multiple Choice

This is NOT a part of the phosphorus cycle.

• Phosphate is incorporated into sedimentary rocks

• Phosphate bound to soil

• Atmospheric phosphate

• Phosphate is absorbed from the soil by plants

Multiple Choice

All living organisms are mainly composed of what elements?

• Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen

• Carbon, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Oxygen

• Sodium, Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen

• Calcium, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Oxygen

Multiple Choice

_____ brings phosphorous into our waterways. .

• Precipitation

• Runoff

• Transpiration

• Condensation

Multiple Choice

Living organisms are mostly composed of Carbon.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements is true of the phosphorus cycle?

• Phosphorus enters the atmosphere as phosphates.
• The phosphorus cycle utilizes the processes of erosion, and weathering.
• Phosphates are used in carbohydrate and glucose storage.
• The phosphorus cycle utilizes bacteria to breakdown phosphates and make them available for plants.

Multiple Choice

Macronutrients are elements organisms need in relatively small amounts

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What role do decomposers play in the phosphorous cycle?

• absorb phosphorous 
• release phosphorous into atmosphere
• return phosphorous into the soil
• combustion

Multiple Choice

When humans burn fossil fuels, most of the carbon quickly enters the                       as carbon dioxide.

• Water
• Atmosphere
• Sun
• Air

Multiple Choice

Trace elements are needed by organisms in relatively large amounts.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

This is released by the weathering of rocks.

• Carbonate

• Phosphate

• Phosphorus

• Nitrogen

Multiple Choice

How does carbon in a grass plant get into a lion?

• The lion eats the grass
• Carbon from grass doesn't end up in a lion. 
• The carbon ends up in the food the lion eats. 
• The lion breathes in carbon given out by the plant

Multiple Choice

Too much phosphorus in waterways (rivers, lakes) can lead to___________.

• eutrophication

• nothing

• decreased pH levels

• diseases

Multiple Choice

Organisms that break down dead plants & animals and release nitrogen back into atmosphere...

• bacteria

• plants

• animals

• producers

Multiple Choice

What is the phosphorus' symbol on the periodic table?

• P

• pH

• Ph

• PO

Multiple Choice

This is NOT a part of the phosphorus cycle.

• Phosphate is incorporated into sedimentary rocks

• Phosphate bound to soil

• Atmospheric phosphate

• Phosphate is absorbed from the soil by plants

Multiple Choice

The major sink for phosphorus is

• sedimentary rock

• atmospheric gases

• seawater

• plants

Multiple Choice

Photosynthesis

• absorbs CO₂
• releases CO₂

Multiple Choice

In order to make a complete cycle for phosphorus, you need to make new rocks through heat, time, and pressure.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Multiple Choice

Nitrogen is available in the soil, and is available for _____ who pass it onto consumers through the food web.

• producers
• heterotrophs
• decomposers
• scavengers

Multiple Select

What things add phosphorus to the soil? Check all that apply.

• Decomposition

• Erosion

• Excretion

• Lightning

• Respiration

Multiple Choice

Phosphorous is passed from plants to ____ who eat them

• plants
• animals
• scavengers

Multiple Choice

_____ brings phosphorous into our waterways. .

• precipitation
• runoff
• transpiration
• condensation

Multiple Choice

Organisms that do not decompose can be buried and become what?

• water
• nutrients
• air
• fossil fuels

Multiple Choice

Nitrogen in the soil has been fixed by bacteria. It is now available for use by ___. 

• humans
• plants
• fungi
• the water cycle