Carbon Cycle

What do 'plants' do with the carbon they receive?

• They turn it into water

• They don't need carbon

• They turn it into food by photosynthesis

• They keep it forever

Answer explanation

Plants use carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis to create glucose, which serves as food. This process is essential for their growth and energy, making the correct answer 'They turn it into food by photosynthesis'.

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How do animals get carbon?

• Photosynthesis

• They absorb it from the atmosphere

• The sun

• Consumption - They eat other plants and animals

Answer explanation

Animals obtain carbon primarily through consumption, as they eat plants and other animals. This process allows them to incorporate carbon into their bodies, unlike plants that use photosynthesis to capture carbon directly from the atmosphere.

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Label the approripate parts of the diagram

b

c

d

e

a

cellular respiration (animal)

combustion

cellular respiration (plant)

fossil fuels

photosynthesis

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All living things are made out of carbon or need carbon to live.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

True. All living organisms are fundamentally based on carbon, which is essential for the formation of biological molecules. Therefore, all living things are made of carbon or require it to sustain life.

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Which are ways carbon is taken OUT of the atmosphere.

• Photosynthesis

• combustion

• Diffusion

• decomposition

Answer explanation

Photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as plants convert it into glucose. Diffusion also contributes as carbon dioxide moves from areas of higher concentration in the atmosphere to lower concentrations in water and soil.

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Which are ways carbon moves INTO the atmosphere?

• combustion

• volcanic eruption

• erosion

• (cellular) respiration

Answer explanation

Carbon moves into the atmosphere through combustion (burning fossil fuels), volcanic eruptions (releasing gases), and cellular respiration (organisms converting glucose into energy, releasing CO2). Erosion does not contribute to atmospheric carbon.

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Carbon exists in the following places.

• Atmosphere

• Biosphere

• Lithosphere

• Hydrosphere

Answer explanation

Carbon is found in the atmosphere as CO2, in the biosphere as part of living organisms, in the lithosphere within rocks and minerals, and in the hydrosphere in dissolved forms in water. Thus, all options are correct.

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Photosynthesis

• absorbs CO₂

• releases CO₂

Answer explanation

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere to produce glucose and oxygen. Therefore, the correct answer is that photosynthesis absorbs CO₂.

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NGSS.MS-LS1-6

Rocks are an area that stores carbon for a long period of time. It is a ____________

• carbon reservoir

• carbon source

• greenhouse gas

• organic molecule

Answer explanation

Rocks act as a long-term storage for carbon, making them a carbon reservoir. This term specifically refers to areas that hold carbon, unlike a carbon source, which releases carbon, or greenhouse gases and organic molecules.

Large forests absorb more carbon than they release. They are a

• carbon sink

• carbon source

• greenhouse gas

• phytoplankton

Answer explanation

Large forests act as a carbon sink because they absorb more carbon dioxide through photosynthesis than they release, helping to mitigate climate change.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS1-6