Energy Drives the Cycling of Matter

Describing the Cycling of Matter in Ecosystems

Energy Drives the Cycling of Matter

• The Sun:

  • The ultimate power source for most life on Earth.

  • Energy for life all starts from the sun

• Earth's Interior:

  • Heat from the Earth's core drives processes like volcanoes and geothermal vents.

How things keep moving in our ecosystems.

• Matter is the "stuff" everything is made of.

  • It cycles through ecosystems, changing forms but never disappearing.

• The water you drink; might have once been part of a dinosaur!

Matter on the Move

• When one organism eats another, energy is passed along.

  • 10% of total energy is passed from consumed organisms.

• Plants get energy from the sun

  • a rabbit gets energy from eating the plants, and a hawk gets energy by eating the rabbit.

Energy in the Food Chain

• Decomposers (bacteria, fungi, worms) break down dead stuff.

• They release nutrients back into the ecosystem so new life can grow.

The Decomposers:
Nature's Recyclers

Water Cycle

• The continuous movement of water within the Earth and atmosphere.

• A continuous process of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

The Sun

The sun is what makes the water cycle work.
The thermal energy provided by the sun causes evaporation.

Multiple Choice

What drives the water cycle?

• rain

• temperature

• the Sun

• rotation

Multiple Choice

What is another word for thermal energy?

• solar

• wind

• heat

• light

Evaporation

• The process where liquid water turns into water vapor (a gas that becomes part of the air).

• How does it happen?

  • Water molecules are always moving.

  • Heat (from the sun or other sources) gives them more energy.

  • Some molecules move fast enough to escape the liquid and become water vapor.

Condensation

• The process where water vapor (gas) in the air turns into liquid water.

• How does it happen?

  • Warm air holds more water vapor than cold air.

  • When warm, moist air comes into contact with a colder surface, the water vapor cools down.

  • As it cools, it can't hold as much water vapor, so the excess changes back into liquid droplets.

Multiple Choice

This picture of the mirror shows an example of--

• precipitation

• transpiration

• evaporation

• condensation

Precipitation

• Precipitation is any form of water that falls from clouds to the Earth's surface.

• It's a crucial part of the water cycle.

• The main types of precipitation include rain, snow, sleet, and hail.

  • Rain is the most common

• Rain forms when water vapor in clouds cools and condenses into water droplets, become heavy and fall to the ground as rain..

Precipitation

• Snow forms when water vapor in clouds freezes directly into ice crystals.

• The ice crystals join together to form snowflakes.

• Snowflakes fall to the ground if the air is cold enough.
  Sleet: Forms when raindrops freeze into tiny ice pellets as they fall.

• Hail: Forms in strong thunderstorm clouds , creating layered balls of ice.
  

Multiple Choice

This picture shows -

• evaporation

• condensation

• precipitation

• transpiration

Multiple Choice

What is the difference with from rain and snow as precipitation?

• Rain falls as liquid water droplets, while snow falls as ice crystals.
• Rain is warmer than snow, while snow is colder than rain.
• Rain falls as solid ice, while snow falls as liquid water droplets.
• Rain is always accompanied by thunder, while snow is always silent.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following events in the water cycle is an example of solar energy being absorbed?

• Water vapor condensing to form clouds.

• Water evaporating from the surface of an ocean.

• Rain freezing as it falls to the ground.

• Clouds releasing precipitation over a mountain.

Match

Match the following

Evaporation

Condensation

Precipitation

• Evaporation

• Condensation

• Precipitation

Hotspot

Select all of the precipitation in the picture

Multiple Choice

The diagram shows the process of evaporation over the ocean. What is the most likely effect of this process on the land areas nearby?

• Increased drought conditions

• Decreased erosion of the shoreline

• Increased precipitation

• Decreased solar energy

Carbon Cycle

Carbon Cycle

• All life is made up of carbon (other stuff too).

• Essential to life because all cells are made of carbon-based molecules.

  • Organisms obtain more than energy from food.

• Organisms also gain carbon and other elements needed for growth and life.

• The carbon cycle allows for physical and chemical changes.

  • Transfer carbon between the environment and living cells.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT found in all macromolecules?

• Carbon

• Nitrogen

• Oxygen

Photosynthesis

producers take carbon dioxide out of the air and, using water and sunlight, convert it into glucose (sugar) and oxygen

The carbon found in glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆) is a form that can be used by consumers and other living things

Photosynthesis changes carbon and light energy from the sun into forms that can be used by living things

Multiple Select

*Choose all that apply* What are benefits of photosynthesis?

• It makes food that plants and animals can use for energy

• It changes light energy from the sun into a form that can be used by living things

• It changes carbon into a form that can be used by living things

Cellular Respiration

During cellular respiration, both consumers and producers take glucose and oxygen and use them to produce energy.

The byproducts of this process, carbon dioxide and water, are released back into the atmosphere to be used again for photosynthesis

Decomposition

• Decomposition is the process of breaking down dead organic (once living) and non-organic material

• This process returns nutrients to the soil and can form fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas)

Other Decomposers include but not limited to:

1. invertebrate organisms sometimes called detritivores-termites, earthworms, millipedes, ect.​

2. fungi-mushrooms

3. Bacteria

Multiple Choice

Which kind of organisms are decomposers?

• Bacteria and Fungi

• Fungi and Insects

• Bacteria and Insects

• Fungi and fruit trees

Multiple Choice

Which of the following living things is responsible for decomposition?

• Plants

• Animals

• Bacteria

Combustion

• Combustion is the burning of materials to release energy

• The byproduct of the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) is the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

• Releasing too much carbon dioxide increases the greenhouse effect and contributes to global warming

Multiple Select

Choose the three fossil fuels

• natural gas

• water

• coal

• hydrogen

• oil

The Nitrogen Cycle

• Nitrogen is an element in nature.

• Cells use nitrogen to build many molecules in living things, including DNA.

• Bacteria in soil and water change nitrogen into chemical forms that plants and algae can use.

• Nitrogen enters most food webs when plants or algae take up these forms of nitrogen.

• Decomposers return nitrogen to the soil and water, where bacteria can change it back to a gas form, returning it to air.

Multiple Choice

Does Nitrogen enters most food webs for organisms.

• No
• Yes
• Only in specific cases
• Rarely

Multiple Choice

What is an important molecule that nitrogen is used to make for life?

• Nucleic acids
• Carbohydrates
• DNA

• Lipids

Multiple Choice

What is the nitrogen cycle?

• The nitrogen cycle refers to the process of converting nitrogen into water.
• The nitrogen cycle involves the conversion of carbon dioxide into nitrogen.
• The nitrogen cycle is the process by which nitrogen is converted between its various chemical forms in the environment.
• The nitrogen cycle is the process of converting oxygen into nitrogen gas.

Multiple Choice

How does nitrogen enter most food webs for organisms?

• Nitrogen transfer through soil erosion
• Nitrogen uptake through photosynthesis
• Nitrogen absorption through animal respiration
• When plants or algae use them.