Carbon Cycle LT 1-6 Review
Name___________________
Date____________________
LT 1 – I can describe the three primary processes of the biological (short) carbon
cycle.
1. What is the Law of Conservation of Matter and how does it apply to the carbon
cycle? The Law of Conservation of Matter states that matter cannot be created or
destroyed. The carbon cycle is an example of the Law because the same carbon atoms
are being recycled through the carbon cycle.
2. List and explain the three primary processes of the (short) carbon cycle.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS – Plants take in CO2, sunlight and water to make their own food.
Carbon is used for energy, and some is stored for growth.
RESPIRATION – The process of converting food to energy using oxygen and giving off
CO2
DECOMPOSITION –When animals die, decomposers (fungi, worms, mushrooms)
break down the carbon compounds in the bodies of decaying matter. Decomposers use
some Carbon for their own bodies while some is returned to the atm. through
respiration as CO2
3. How do animals get the carbon they need? How is the carbon used?
By eating plants or animals that eat plants. Some is broken apart releasing energy,
some is changed into new compounds to become part of the body, and some is returned
to the atmosphere during respiration.
4. How does CO2 get from the atmosphere to into the food web?
Through photosynthesis
LT 2 – I can identify reservoirs and can explain processes that are part of the delayed
cycle.
5. Compare the short (biological) cycle with the delayed cycle.
The short carbon cycle deals with the biological processes. Such as breathing, plants
producing food, decomposers breaking down the food. In the delayed carbon cycle,
this is where carbon is stored for long periods of time. (Nonliving)
5. What is a reservoir? A place where carbon is stored
6. List four places where carbon is stored. Shells, Atmosphere, soil, trees, plants, Deep
Ocean, surface ocean rocks.
8. What is another name for places where carbon is stored? Carbon sink
LT 3 – I can explain the importance of carbon to living things.
9. What is biosynthesis? The formation of complex compounds from simple molecules.
10. What compound do plants make when they use energy and matter to produce their
own food? Glucose which can then recombine to make compounds like carbs, fats, and
proteins
11. What do plants need to make their own food? What are the reactants? (Ingredients)
Carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water
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12. What type of energy does a plant need to grow? ___Light__
LT 4 – I can explain the role of plants in the carbon cycle.
FYI - BTB is an indicator solution that changes color from blue to yellow in the presence
of CO2
13. If a plant is put in a vial with yellow BTB and put in the sunlight, what would be
the outcome? Explain Blue…The plants in the vial will absorb the CO2 and take the
yellow out and return the color back to blue
14. If a plant is put into a vial that contains green BTB (low CO2) and placed in the dark,
what would the color of the vial be after 12 hours? Explain Yellow….Even though there
is CO2 present, when placed in the dark, the plant continues to respire and that will
cause the color to turn yellow
15. What are the reactants (ingredients) and the product of photosynthesis? Sunlight,
carbon dioxide, and water (reactants). (Products) are glucose and oxygen
LT 5 – I can identify human impacts on the carbon cycle and can explain possible
consequences.
16. What are three examples of fossil fuels? Oil, Gas, and coal
17. How are human activities changing the carbon cycle? Burning of fossil fuels. When
we burn fossil fuels, we release carbon atoms that have been locked away inside the
earth for millions of years. The extra CO2 acts like a blanket trapping extra heat that
usually goes to space. The earth’s high temperature is the result. Cutting down
trees…this releases CO2 back into the atmosphere as well as keeping trees from
absorbing the CO2
18. What is combustion and how does it impact the atmosphere? The process of
burning fossil fuels that returns CO2 to the atmosphere. It impacts the atmosphere by
removing gigatons of carbon from fossil fuels into the atmosphere
19. List three human activities that increase CO2 in the atmosphere.
By producing electricity, making products from factories, and driving cars.
Deforestation, land use changes
20. What is the relationship between temperature and CO2.? Explain the graph.
There is a direct correlation between temperature and CO2. When temp goes up so does
CO2. The zigzag lines of the CO2 show the change in seasons when there is high
vegetation, the CO2 is lower and when the vegetation is low, the CO 2 is higher.
21. What is being illustrated in the simulation? What conclusion can be drawn from the
two types of gases? The illustration shows the result of adding CO2 and N2 to the
atmosphere. On the left, it shows the deflecting of CO2 back to the earth and warming
the earth. There is no reaction with the addition of the N2. The conclusion that is drawn
is that CO2 is the greenhouse gas and is responsible for trapping heat in the atmosphere.
LT 6 – I can identify and distinguish between carbon sources and carbon sinks and
can explain the movement of carbon between these locations.
a. CO2 increases in the atmosphere
b CO2 decreases in the atmosphere
___A__22. Deforestation
___B__23. Vegetation at its peak during September
___A__24. Vegetation at its peak in March
___B__25. Planting pine trees
___A__26. Releasing fossil fuels through combustion
__A___27. Volcanic eruptions
____A_28. When carbon sinks outnumber carbon sources
___B__29. When carbon sources outnumber carbon sinks
__A___30. Combustion