Subject Area(s): Earth Science
Associated Unit: none
Associated Lesson: none
Activity Title: Biogeochemical Cycles Game
Header
Image 1
ADA Description: biogeochemical cycle
Caption: ___?
Image file name: ___?
Source/Rights: Copyright ©
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.windows.
ucar.edu/earth/climate/images/carboncycle_sm.jpg&imgrefurl=
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link%3D/earth/Life/biogeoc
hem.html%26edu%3Dhigh&usg=__mykfIWnNWnJ7oYzKm9
XMQ6WN5og=&h=360&w=360&sz=78&hl=en&start=1&um
=1&tbnid=GnY5JaK1FxmX_M:&tbnh=121&tbnw=121&prev
=/images%3Fq%3Dbiogeochemical%2Bcycles%26hl%3Den%
26rlz%3D1T4GZHY_enUS227US227%26sa%3DN%26um%3
D1
Grade Level 7-9
Activity Dependency: none
Time Required: 1 hour
Group Size: 5-6
Expendable Cost per Group: US $0.50
Summary: In this activity, students will learn how carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and nutrients are
cycled through animals, plants, and the atmosphere.
Engineering Connection
Understanding chemical cycles is important for environmental engineering, where engineers use
science to improve the environment and provide healthy water, air, and land for humans and for
other organisms.
Engineering Category
Choose the category that best describes this activity’s amount/depth of engineering content: (1)
relates science concept to engineering
Level of Inquiry
[For SEE-LA only; not part of TE submission].
Keywords
chemical cycle, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, nutrient
Educational Standards
 State science:
Ecology (grades 9-12)
6. Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects. As a basis for
understanding this concept:
d. Students know how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle between abiotic resources and organic
matter in the ecosystem and how oxygen cycles through photosynthesis and respiration.
Pre-Requisite Knowledge
Students should know what elements are and that carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are prevalent on
earth and used by all living things. Students should be introduced to the processes of
photosynthesis and cellular respiration and know what molecules are exchanged in each.
Learning Objectives
After this activity, students should be able to:
 Explain how carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and nutrients are cycled through animals, plants, and
the atmosphere.
 Understand that atoms of elements are continually recycled through biotic and abiotic
systems and not created nor destroyed.
 Understand that in order for an ecosystem to function, all of the elements needed by cells
must continually be recycled through the ecosystem.
Materials List
Each group needs:
 1 student handout (attached)

1 set of cards (attached)

1 die

Pencils (one per person)
To share with the entire class:

Introduction / Motivation
Vocabulary / Definitions
Word
Definition
biogeochemical any of the natural circulation pathways of the essential elements of living
cycle
matter.
nutrient
any substance (such as a chemical element or inorganic compound) that can be
taken in by a green plant and used in organic synthesis
Procedure
Background
The teacher should be able to talk about how the most prominent elements on earth (carbon,
oxygen, and nitrogen) are continually recycled through biotic and abiotic systems. He/she can
give the example that the same oxygen atom in a molecule of water that you drink today was one
breathed in by a dinosaur! Emphasis should be made on the fact that an ecosystem cannot
function unless these elements are continually recycled because more of them are not being
made. The role of nutrients for plant and animal nutrition can also be discussed.
Before the Activity
 Cut out 1 complete set of playing cards (several pages attached) per group.
 Make copies of the worksheet (one per student)
 Set out one die per group
 Make sure students have pencils
With the Students
1. Give students one set of cards and tell them to read the instructions on the worksheet
(attached). Students should split up into pairs (2 will represent animals, 2 plants, and 2
atmosphere). Put up table tents (attached) in front of each student signifying their character.
2. The student pairs will take turns rolling the die and follow the instructions on the worksheet
for the number that comes up. Both animals, both plants, and both atmosphere players will
exchange cards at a time when instructed to. If cards are not available to give, then that
player will still receive cards given to him or her. Each time a player receives a card, he/she
will circle the picture of his/her character (plant, animal, or atmosphere)in each successive
row.
3. After 20- 30 minutes, the teacher should stop the game and tell the students to go to the next
section of the worksheet. Here, students will write down the element of each card they have,
where it originally came from, and all of the places it travelled through (circled pictures on
the card).
4. As a group, the students should draw a cycle for one of the elements (carbon, oxygen,
nitrogen, or nutrients) on the diagram, with the arrows going in the correct direction.
5. As a group, students should then attempt to draw the biogeochemical cycles for all of the
chemicals in the game. The most correct representation in the class should win a prize (e.g.,
candy).
Attachments
Biogeochemical Cycle Game
Animal cards_biogeochemical game
Plant & Sky cards_biogeochemical game
Biogeochemical Cycle Game_Table Tents
Safety Issues
 There are no safety issues for this activity
Troubleshooting Tips
Investigating Questions
Assessment
Pre-Activity Assessment
Title: Preliminary Questions
The teacher can ask the students the following questions:
What elements do you think are most important elements for biological organisms? (Answer:
oxygen, carbon, nitrogen). What happens to elements when they are used by an organism? For
instance, where does oxygen go after it is breathed in, does it disappear? (Answer: no, oxygen is
used in cellular respiration and ends up combining with hydrogen and producing water. The
water may then be excreted from the body and enter the water cycle).
Activity Embedded Assessment
Title: Activity
The teacher should make sure that students are taking turns rolling the die and that each player is
trading cards when the instructions say to. Also make sure that students are circling their
representative picture every time they receive a card.
Post-Activity Assessment
Title: Group and Discussion Questions
The teacher should make sure that students are working as a group to figure out the geochemical
cycles given the information they gathered from the game.
Activity Extensions
Activity Scaling
 For lower grades, this activity can be done as a class demonstration with volunteers.
 For upper grades, this activity can be made more difficult by adding more discussion
questions about how elements are recycled. For instance, one can ask in what molecules they
think carbon resides in for plants, animals, and the atmosphere.
Additional Multimedia Support
References
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~pet205/biogeochem1.html
Leaf icons:
http://portfolio.webmanagement.us/vineyard411.com/vineyard-directorydisplay.php?gpack=bG10QDE2MzUrbmFtZUArbG9jYXRpb25AK2FyZWFAK2lkQDE2NDAr
ZmF2QGFkZA%3D%3D
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ecovoom.com/images/leaf_icon.jpg&imgr
efurl=http://www.ecovoom.com/overView.jsp&usg=__j16iT4AGBpWVvarPGinFRT6D0Mw=
&h=119&w=107&sz=5&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=daNW7RHkZUlW4M:&tbnh=88&tbnw
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Animal icons:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gemplers.com/images/pages/wildlife_head
er_06.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.gemplers.com/shop/deerrepellent&usg=__KzCXbqHQXwb2tvMzybj5XVvAoV8=&h=49&w=40&sz=1&hl=en&start=4
1&um=1&tbnid=u4z2xZm7oRB04M:&tbnh=49&tbnw=40&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drabbit%2B
icon%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GZHY_enUS227US227%26sa%3DN%26sta
rt%3D36%26um%3D1
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.augustyn.com/PKDF_Bird_Icon_01.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.augustyn.com/pkdf.htm&usg=__hRWRcxlNF1w8bRhTweUAkSCgtk=&h=324&w=432&sz=3&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=wTZZHt4
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%3D1T4GZHY_enUS227US227%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
Sun & clouds icon:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.iconarchive.com/icons/fasticon/nature/Clo
ud-Sun-256x256.png&imgrefurl=http://www.iconarchive.com/show/nature-icons-byfasticon/Cloud-Sun-icon.html&usg=__oHpAqMLu6S5YEsI649L4RZk_szE=&h=256&
w=256&sz=25&hl=en&start=29&um=1&tbnid=u_MdmtznnjHlvM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=111&pre
v=/images%3Fq%3Dsun%2Bicon%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GZHY_enUS2
27US227%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1
Other
Owner
UCLA SEE-LA GK-12 Program, University of California, Los Angeles.
Contributors
Developer: Brittany Enzmann. This activity was developed as part of the UCLA Science and
Engineering of the Environment of Los Angeles (SEE-LA GK-12) program and has been
classroom tested in several 9th grade Integrated Coordinates Science classes at University High
School in Los Angeles.
Copyright