Cycles in nature

1. Cycles in nature The four we must know about are: 1 2 3 4

2. The carbon cycle • Add an image of the cycle

3. True or false? How many false ones are there? Correct the false ones. Carbon is found in fats, proteins and carbohydrates.Trees have no carbon in them.Carbon is stored in fossil fuels.Carbon is not stored in limestone rock.Autotrophs (plants) change carbon dioxide into glucose through photosynthesis.When plants respire they return some carbon back to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.Some carbon becomes biomass in their plant structure.When vegetation is burnt some carbon returns to the atmosphere.Carbon dioxide doesn’t dissolve in water.Algae and phytoplankton take in carbon dioxide.Animals eat vegetation and so carbon is passed on to them.When animals respire they give out carbon dioxide.When vegetation and animals die they are eaten by decomposers who also get the carbon and then respire to return it to the atmosphere.When dead organisms are buried under the ground or sea they cannot decompose and over a few years they turn to fossil fuels.Limestone rock is made by shells and corals being crushed and turning to rock with lots of carbon in it.When we burn fossil fuels carbon dioxide is given off.Volcanoes can also return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

4. The nitrogen cycle • Add an image of the cycle

5. What element are amino acids (which make proteins) made of?Is there a lot of nitrogen in the atmosphere?Can animals and plants use the atmosphere’s nitrogen easily?Why not?What bacteria can generate enough energy to split the bond and make nitrogen gas into ammonia?What are the other three types of bacteria in the nitrogen cycle?What two places do nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in ?How do plants and the bacteria have a symbiotic relationship (mutualism)?How does lightning affect where the nitrogen is?Where else does ammonia come from?Once the ammonia is in the soil how does it get into plants?Why couldn’t the plants take up the ammonia and nitrates?What do plants do with the nitrates?What bacteria get nitrogen back into the atmosphere?Where do they live?Why are waterlogged soils so bad for farmers?

6. The hydrological cycle • Add an image of the cycle

7. 8 important water cycle words and what they mean: What is the input from the hydrological cycle to a terrestrial ecosystem? What are the two main outputs? Where is water stored in a terrestrial area?

8. The nutrient cycle • Add an image of the cycle

9. Important transfers and transformations are: • Why would the nutrient cycle be different in the Amazon rainforest to the African savannah?