CARBON CYCLE NOTES
6
What is Carbon? (Description and quick facts)
C
- Carbon is an element
- Carbon is found in anything that is alive or once alive
- Living things use carbon for ENERGY!
12.01
THE JOURNEY OF CARBON
My beautiful picture showing carbon as it cycles
Releasing CO2
through burning
ATMOSPHERE
Long
Cycle
Respiration
Photosynthesis
Short
Cycle
BURNING
FOSSIL FUELS
Extracting fossil
fuels from the
Earth
Eating
ANIMALS
FORMATION OF
FOSSIL FUELS
PLANTS
FROM ATMOSPHERE TO PLANTS
- Carbon is part of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) when in the atmosphere
- Carbon is “breathed” in by plants as part of photosynthesis
- Once inside a plant carbon is ripped from CO2 and used to make carbohydrates (sugars)
CARBON BONDS STORE ENERGY!
Draw an illustration of the
Photosynthesis process
Photo – Greek word for light
Syntithenai – Greek word
meaning “to put together”
Nutrien
ts
FROM PLANTS TO ANIMALS
There are only two ways for animals to get carbon…
Option 1
Option 2
By eating other animals
(which ate plants)
By eating plants
the carbon is traced back to plants
* Either way ____________________________________________
FROM ANIMALS TO THE ATMOSPHERE
Respiration: basically breathing, oxygen in, CO2 out (although there is
a whole lot more going on inside, that will be a topic for chemistry)
Sugar
Oxygen
Energy
CO2
Water
FROM DEAD STUFF TO FOSSIL FUELS
dead plants and animals (mostly dead plants)
- Fossil fuels form from ________________________________
- In order for fossil fuels to form you need the right amount of:
◦ Temperature
◦ Pressure
◦ Time
FROM FOSSIL FUELS TO THE ATMOSPHERE
It takes years for fossil fuels to form but only hours to be used up. When fossil fuels are burned
they release CO2 into the atmosphere.
WHAT IS THE CARBON CYCLE LIKE IN THE OCEAN?
Basically it is the same as on land. A lot of CO2 is absorbed into the ocean from the atmosphere.
Ocean producers use it for photosynthesis. In fact most of the oxygen surrounding the Earth is
released by ocean plants!
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Sun
Greenhouse gases are…
Gases in the atmosphere
that trap heat
Sunlight
Eart
h
Atmosphere
Without greenhouse gases…
Earth would freeze!