Nitrogen and Carbon Cycles

In your own words, describe why carbon is so important to living organisms

List some carbon reservoirs (places where carbon can be found in nature)

How does carbon dioxide leave the atmosphere?

• Organisms that perform photosynthesis (producers)

• When you open your mouth and inhale really deeply

• It doesn't leave the atmosphere

• Heterotrophs

What are the 2 ways that carbon leaves plants and animals?

Why is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere bad?

How does nitrogen leave the atmosphere?

• It is taken in by plants

• By breathing

• By bacteria in soil

• It doesn't

What type of relationship do the nitrogen fixing bacteria and the plants have?

• Commensalism

• Mutualism

• Parasitism

What do the nitrifying bacteria do?

What is ammonification?

• Bacteria turn atmospheric nitrogen into usable forms

• Bacteria turn ammonia into nitrites

• Decomposers turn the remains of organisms into ammonia

How does nitrogen return to the atmosphere as a gas?