Name_______________________________________________________________________ Date______________

Period______________

(Patel 2014)Biogeochemical Cycles Webquest

The Carbon Cycle : The carbon cycle is the pathway that carbon follows as it moves in and out of
living organisms.
Recall that the four major macromolecules are built with carbon. Where does this carbon come
from? Is carbon
created daily? Actually- it is NOT. All the carbon atoms that are in your body are simply recycled
carbon atoms from the
beginning of earths history! That means that the carbon atoms that are in your body right now
have been in some other
organisms body in the past. Just think, a carbon atom in your eyeball could have been in a
dinosaurs poop!
Complete the following animation:
http://vro.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/pages/soilhealth_organic_carbon-cycle
Go to the following website and answer the questions:

(1) Go to http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/basics/today/carbon-dioxide.htmlClick and complete scene 1.

(2) Name 2 places on the earth we find carbon:
1. __________________________ 2. ___________________________
(3) Go to http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Water/co2_cycle.html, read about the carbon cycle and fill in
the blanks below:
Plants pull carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere to make food, through a process called
____________________.
Through food chains animals get ____________ from the plants and other animals they eat.
When plants and animals die and ____________, carbon goes back into the
ground.
Some carbon is buried deep in the ground and forms ________________________.
When humans burn fossil fuels, ________________ is released back into the atmosphere.
When humans and animals exhale, they release carbon back into the air by a process called
______________________________.
(4) Go to http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/co2_cycle.html
How are oceans involved in the carbon cycle?
How is the temperature of the Earth partly controlled by carbon?
What role do rocks have within the carbon cycle?
How are humans altering the carbon cycle?
(5) Use this site to play a carbon game: http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/carbon_cycle.html Click to begin
your journey. Take notes on (1) where you begin the carbon cycle, (2) the stops that you make, and (3) what you learn
along the way.
Facts to find:
How much of the atmosphere is made of carbon dioxide?
By how much has CO2 increased in the atmosphere during the past 150 years?
The deep ocean accounts for more than ______% of the Earths carbon.
How much carbon does the surface ocean absorb from the atmosphere each year?

True or false. When plants die and decay, they bring carbon into soil.
True or False. Plants both absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and release it into the atmosphere.
True or False. Phytoplankton are tiny plants and algae that float in the ocean and take up carbon dioxide as they grow.
When carbon enters the deep ocean, how long does it stay there?

(6).Looking at the carbon cycle, indicate the key steps of:

a. Photosynthesis (from atmosphere to plant sugars)

b. Consumption (eating) (from plant to animal to animal)
c. Respiration (returning carbon to atmosphere by breathing
out)

d. Decomposition (returning carbon to soil by rotting into the

ground)

(7).Go to: http://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/images/carboncycle_sm.jpg

Examine the picture. List two ways we (humans) might be altering the carbon cycle?
The Nitrogen Cycle : Nitrogen is an essential part of proteins and DNA. Like carbon, nitrogen is
recycled continuously.
Complete the animation:
http://www.classzone.com/books/ml_science_share/vis_sim/em05_pg20_nitrogen/em05_pg20_nitrogen.
html
Then, review this website and answer the questions.
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/N/NitrogenCycle.html
1. Where is most nitrogen in the biosphere located?
2. This nitrogen is not in a useable form. Plants and animals cannot simply absorb nitrogen from
the atmosphere. Therefore, it must be _____________________ , which means
________________________________.
3. There are two ways that nitrogen can NATURALLY be removed from the atmosphere:
a)
b)
4. What happens to nitrogen inside of a plant?
5. How does the nitrogen get to carnivores?

6. What happens to the nitrogen when organisms die?

7. What is the name of the process which returns nitrogen to the atmosphere?
8. Go to the following site and place a number next to
the steps involved in the nitrogen cycle:
http://ridge.icu.ac.jp/gen-ed/ecosystem-jpgs/nitrogencycle.jpg
_______ denitrification = some nitrates are returned to
atmosphere by
denitrifying bacteria
_______ assimilation = plants absorb nitrates, incorporate
into proteins.
Nitrogen in now in the food chain
_______ nitrogen-fixation = nitrogen in atmosphere
converted to
ammonia by lightning or nitrogen-fixing
bacteria)
_______ ammonification = dead plants/animals converted to ammonia
by ammonifying bacteria
_______ nitrification = ammonia converted to nitrates by nitrifying

bacteria

9. Reading the descriptions from #8, what type of ORGANISM do you notice is essential in nearly
every stop of the nitrogen cycle?
10. Go to the website: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Life/nitrogen_cycle.html&edu=midand answer
the questions below:
1. For what three things do plants and animals need nitrogen?

2. What are 2 ways nitrogen becomes useable to plants, humans and animals?
3. How do herbivores obtain the nitrogen they need?
4. How is nitrogen returned to the atmosphere?
5. What are two ways humans impact the nitrogen cycle:
1.
2.
6. What happens when there is an excess of nitrogen?

Phosphorus Cycle
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/chagedor/biol_4684/Cycles/Pcycle.html
soil based view
1. How does phosphorus initially enter the cycle?
2. What do plants do with it?

3. How do herbivores get it?

4. How do carnivores get it?
5. How do herbivores and carnivores return phosphorus to the cycle?

6. Go to the following site https://bioh.wikispaces.com/More+Elemental+Cycles and fill in the

appropriate boxes of the phosphorus cycle.
USE THE WHOLE PHRASE NOT JUST
THE LETTER!
a. Phosphates in organic
compounds
b. Phosphates in soil
(inorganic)
c. Phosphates in rock
d. Phosphates in solution
e. Detritus
f.

Detrivores in soil

g. Precipitated (soild)
phosphates

The Water Cycle

http://education.jlab.org/reading/water_cycle.html
1. The ______________ evaporates _____________ from lakes and oceans. As the air rises, it cools.
The water vapor condenses into tiny droplets of _______________. The droplets crowd together
and form a __________. Wind blows the ______________ towards the land. The tiny droplets join
together and fall as precipitation to the ____________. The water soaks into the ground and
collects in ___________. The ___________ that never ends has started again!
2. Identify each number in the picture below

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Clickonhttp://www.mbgnet.net/fresh/cycle/index.htm.Answerthefollowingquestions.
1. Define"watercycle".

2. Whatfractionoftheearthssurfaceiscoveredinwater?

3. WhatpercentageofalltheEarthswaterisinaformthatisuseabletohumansandlandanimals?

Clickonhttp://www.mbgnet.net/fresh/cycle/concepts.htm.Answerthefollowingquestions.
1. Evaporation is the process where a liquid changes from its __________ state to a ___________

state.
2. Why is evaporated water so clean?

3. Condensation occurs when a ____________ is changed into a __________.

4. Condensation is the opposite of ____________.

5. When the ________________ and ___________________ are right, the small droplets of water in
clouds form larger droplets and precipitation occurs.
Click on http://www.mbgnet.net/fresh/cycle/cycle.htm. Answer the following questions.
1. Using the terms "evaporation", "condensation", and "precipitation", explain the water cycle in

your own words.

2. What factor is most important in determining whether water is a solid, liquid, or gas?

3. Is the amount of water on Earth always changing or is it a constant amount?