Name:___________________________________Per:__________
Nutrient Cycles Computer Review
CARBON CYCLE:
Go to the PreAP Biology website  Unit 7 Resources  Ch 3 PPT.
1. Label the carbon cycle below using the following terms: RESPIRATION, DECAYING MATTER,
DECOMPOSERS, PRIMARY CONSUMERS, SECONDARY CONSUMERS, BURNING OF FOSSIL
FUELS, CO2, PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Not all words fit in a box.
Go to http://epa.gov/climatestudents/basics/today/carbon-dioxide.html to answer the following questions. You
may use other reliable internet sources, if necessary.
2. Where is carbon found (stored) in the world?
3. Explain how carbon is transferred from the atmosphere to plants to the soil and back to the atmosphere
(what processes occur)?
4. Human activities have disrupted the carbon cycle in various ways. In the space below, address each
human activity, citing the specific effect on the carbon cycle, the effect on the planet, and at least ONE
way we could counteract or reduce the impact of that change.
HUMAN
EFFECT ON C CYCLE EFFECT ON PLANET
REDUCE IMPACT
ACTIVITY
Burning fossil
fuels
Deforestation
5. What role do decomposers play in the carbon cycle?
Go to http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html and answer the following questions. You may use
other reliable internet sources, if necessary.
a. What causes the greenhouse effect (warming of the earth’s atmosphere)?
b. What causes global warming?
NITROGEN CYCLE:
Go to the PreAP Biology website  Unit 7 Resources  Ch 3 PPT.
1. Label the nitrogen cycle below using the following terms: N2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE,
DECOMPOSERS, DENITRIFYING BACTERIA, PLANTS, NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA,
ASSIMILATION. Not all white boxes will be filled out. Not all the words fit in a box.
Go to http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-nitrogen-cycle-processes-players-and-human15644632 and answer the following questions. You may use other reliable internet sources, if necessary.
2. What is nitrogen fixation?
3. Nitrogen from the soil is then transferred where?
4. Nitrogen can be transferred from plants to two different places. List the two places and describe how this
occurs.
5. How does nitrogen in the soil get back to the atmosphere?
6. What class of organism is vital in the recycling of nutrients in the ecosystem?
7. Scroll to the section titled Ecological Implications of Human Alterations to the Nitrogen Cycle.
Describe one negative effect of disruption of the N cycle on terrestrial systems.
Describe one negative effect of disruption of the N cycle on aquatic systems.