Carbon Cycle PDF

1.6 Carbon Cycle  Learning Goals Explain how carbon cycles through an ecosystem  Nutrients Nutrients provide energy and matter that your body needs to stay alive Nutrients are molecules made up of chemical elements 95% of our bodies are made up of just four elements: Carbon, Hydr...

1.6 Carbon Cycle  Learning Goals Explain how carbon cycles through an ecosystem  Nutrients Nutrients provide energy and matter that your body needs to stay alive Nutrients are molecules made up of chemical elements 95% of our bodies are made up of just four elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen Nutrient Cycles Matter CANNOT be created or destroyed ○ All nutrients must be produced or obtained from chemicals that already exist in the environment! The limited amount of matter on the planet must be recycled for all of life to be supported Nutrient Cycles A nutrient cycle is the cycling of matter between the biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem Cycles have no beginning and no end: Chemicals are continuously consumed, rearranged, stored, and used  Nutrients Carbon is needed by all life Carbon is found in the fats, proteins, sugars, and DNA that make up all living organisms  The Carbon Cycle CO2 How does carbon CO2 CO2 cycle through the environment? Carbon is recycled in the carbon cycle through several processes, but mostly through photosynthesis and respiration. Glucose Glucose Glucose  The Carbon Cycle 1. Carbon moves in the form of CO2 from the atmosphere to plants on land and in the ocean Through PHOTOSYNTHESIS, plants use the sun and carbon dioxide to make their own food 2. Carbon moves from plants to animals Through the food chain, any carbon in the plants will move to the animals that eat them. 3. Carbon moves from the animals to the ground When plants and animals die,their bodies decay bringing carbon back into the ground.  The Carbon Cycle 4. Carbon returns to the atmosphere Animals, plants and decomposers undergo CELLULAR RESPIRATION, where they release carbon dioxide as they exhale When humans burn FOSSIL FUELS to power factories and cars carbon dioxide is released Decomposers return carbon trapped in the bodies of organisms back to the atmosphere in the form of CO2  Atmosphere (CO2) Photosynthesis Cellular Respiration Fossil Fuels Producers Consumers **Same process Dead organisms and waste products occurs in oceans with Decomposers dissolved Decomposition CO2 Trapped Carbon Reservoirs- areas where carbon is stored for long periods of time 1) Biotic reservoirs- Areas where carbon is trapped in the cells of living organisms. ▪ Ex. Forests, fossil fuels, shells, bones ▪ 2) Abiotic reservoirs- Areas where carbon is stored in the environment. ▪ Ex. Oceans Biotic Reservoirs Carbon Deposits are ways which carbon can get trapped underground. Ex. Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas etc.) that form when decomposed organisms are compressed over millions of years. This carbon only gets released when we dig it up!  Biotic Reservoirs Aquatic organisms use dissolved CO2 and calcium to form shells and hard structures. Carbon from shells and bones become sediments on ocean floor and over time with pressure and heat it turns into limestone (sedimentary rocks). Volcano eruptions can return CO2 into the atmosphere when limestone underground is broken down! The Carbon Cycle You Try! Adding more CO2 in the atmosphere can heat up the planet and add to the effects of global warming. Humans perform the following activities: i. Burn fossil fuels ii. Cut down trees (deforestation) iii. Pollute the air with emissions from cars How do you think these 3 activities have an impact on the amount of carbon in the atmosphere? ANSWERS i. Burning fossil fuels, release the carbon in that reservoir, adding more carbon into the atmosphere. ii. Cutting down trees, mean less CO2 removed from the atmosphere for photosynthesis. Any carbon trapped in trees is released into the atmosphere. iii. Air pollution from cars add more carbon into the atmosphere and this can actually result in acid rain forming. Acid rain that falls on limestone, erodes the limestone and releases more CO2 into the atmosphere.  we care do bon Why how car t abou oves?? m What happens when there is too much carbon in one sphere? Too much carbon in the atmosphere? ○ Increase in greenhouse effect → planet warms up Too much carbon in the ocean? ○ Ocean acidification CO2 + H2O → H+ + HCO3- Lots of carbon in plants? ○ More and bigger plants! 🌲🌳🎋