Matter cycles through ecosystems

1. Matter cycles through ecosystems Cycle is a series of events that happens over and over again

2. Water cycle • The movement of water through the environment • Water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen • Water in the atmosphere is usually in gaseous form (water vapor) • Water that fall to Earth’s surface is referred to as precipitation • For precipitation to occur, water vapor must condense-it must change into a liquid or solid. (rain, snow, sleet, mist, or hail)

3. Water cycle (continued) • Water returns to the atmosphere when heated, changing back into a vapor a process called evaporation. • Animals release water vapor when they breathe, or respire • Plants release water vapor through a process called transpiration.

4. Let’s watch this now!! • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al-do-HGuIk

5. Carbon cycle • Carbon moves through Earth’s ecosystem in a cycle • Carbon dioxide gas found in Earth’s atmosphere that carbon enters the living parts of an ecosystem • Plants use carbon dioxide to produce sugar (photosynthesis) There’s that word again!!

6. And Carbon cycle keeps going • To release the energy in food, organisms break down the carbon compounds a process called respiration. • Carbon is released and cycled back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. • When living things die and decay, the rest of the carbon that makes up living matter is released.

7. Sing for Carbon Cycle? • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWaEB4BMFAQ

8. Nitrogen Cycle • Nitrogen cycles through Earth • 4/5 of the air we breathe is clear, colorless nitrogen gas • All animals must get nitrogen from plants • Plants can’t use pure nitrogen gas either • Plants take in certain nitrogen compounds through their roots, along with water and other nutrients

9. How does nitrogen get from the atmosphere into the soil? • Lightning strikes break apart, or fixes, pure nitrogen changing it into a form plants can use. Then this form of nitrogen falls to the ground when it rains. • Nitrogen-fixing bacteria is a greater source of nitrogen. These bacteria live in the oceans as well as the soil.

10. The rest of the Nitrogen cycle • When organisms die, decomposers break them down. Nitrogen is used again by living things. • A small amount is returned to the atmosphere by certain bacteria that can break down nitrogen compounds into nitrogen gas.

11. Nitrogen cycle video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaFVfHftzpI