Nitrogen Cycle Questions
1. Nitrogen makes up 78% of our air on
Earth.
2. Nitrogen is essential to plants and
animals because they use it to build
proteins (amino acids and nucleic acids).
Nitrogen is also found in ATP- energy of
living things.
3. Plants and animals cannot get
Nitrogen directly from the air. Plants get
Nitrogen from the soil. Bacteria found in
the root nodules of certain plants and
legumes convert Nitrogen in the soil to
ammonia (NH3), which can then be
taken in by plants. Animals get Nitrogen
from eating the plants.
4. Nitrogen fixing bacteria convert plain
Nitrogen to useful Nitrogen compounds.
Basically, they turn useless Nitrogen into
useful Nitrogen compounds for plants.
This useful Nitrogen can be found in the
form of ammonia (NH3), nitrites (NO2),
nitrates (NO3).
5. A major reservoir of ammonia is the
soil.
6. Herbivores need Nitrogen to build
key organic compounds like amino acids,
proteins, and nucleic acids.
7. Denitrification occurs when bacteria
form nitrates and nitrites. Some of the
Nitrogen is release back into the
atmosphere.