Earth’s 4 Spheres
air
life
water
earth/rocks
The Water Cycle
The Water Cycle
Condensation
Evaporation
Precipitation
Transpiration
Runoff
Groundwater
Human Uses
Human Waste
Evaporation
• Water that rises from the earth
(lithosphere or biosphere) into the
atmosphere
Condensation
• Water in the atmosphere that clumps
together to form clouds
Precipitation
• Water that falls from the atmosphere
to the earth (lithosphere)
Runoff
• Water on the earth (lithosphere) that
flows into bodies of water
(hydrosphere)
Human Uses
• We need water to live
– For our bodies
– To clean our food and ourselves
Human Waste
• Animals (including humans) return
water to ground and bodies of
water through urine
Groundwater
• Water stored in the lithosphere
The Carbon Cycle
The Carbon Cycle
Photosynthesis
Pollution
Gas Exchange
Gas Exchange
Carbon Fixation
Animal Waste
Fossilization
Burning Fossil Fuels
Decomposition
Gas Exchange
• CO2 exchanges between water and
the atmosphere
– dissolves from the atmosphere into water (the
hydrosphere)
– rises out of water into the atmosphere
Photosynthesis
• Plants use CO2 from the atmosphere
to make glucose sugar (C6H12O6)
Carbon Fixation
• When CO2 leaves the atmosphere and
enters the biosphere (usually
photosynthesis)
Animal Waste
• Carbon compounds are released
through solid waste into land and
water (the lithosphere and
hydrosphere)
Decomposition
• Carbon is decomposed (by bacteria
and other decomposers) into soil
Fossilization
• When plants and animals die, the
carbon in their bodies may be turned
into fossil fuels
– Under the right heat and pressure
Burning Fossil Fuels
• We can burn these fossils and use the
energy from them as fuel (coal, oil,
and natural gas)
– CO2 is released when they are burnt
Pollution
• CO2 from the burnt fuels is released
back into the atmosphere
The Nitrogen Cycle
The Nitrogen Cycle
Burning Fossil Fuels
Animal Use
De-nitrification
Nitrogen Fixation
Waste
Runoff
Plant Use
Nitrogen Fixation
• Lightning and bacteria put
atmospheric nitrogen into the
lithosphere and hydrosphere (NO3
and NH3)
Plant Use
• Plants use nitrogen to make amino
acids (the building blocks of proteins!)
– From the atmosphere to the biosphere
Animal Use
• Animals break apart the plant proteins
and use the amino acids to build their
own proteins
– Stays in the biosphere
Waste
• Decomposers break down animals
and plant matter into nitrogen for the
soil (lithosphere and biosphere)
De-nitrification
• Decomposers turn nitrogen
compounds back into nitrogen gas
(lithosphere to atmosphere)
Runoff
• Runoff washes nitrogen from the
ground into water (lithosphere into
the hydrosphere)
Burning Fossil Fuels
• Nitrogen enters the atmosphere as
pollution from our factories
– Lithosphere to atmosphere
Question 1:
Explain how the Earth’s 4
spheres are connected through
the water, carbon, and nitrogen
cycles.
Analysis: Yosemite National Park was my grandfather’s favorite
place on earth. When he died, we spread some of his ashes there.
Draw and label the path of a CARBON atom from Ms. Macway’s
Grandpa’s remains to where it could become part of a hawk.
Note: A hawk is a carnivore, but it did NOT dig up and consume
my Grandpa’s remains!!!