Name
Class
Date given
Date due
Unit 4: Water and Nutrient Cycles
Student Expectations/Self assessment
ENVIRO 4. Know the relationships of biotic and abiotic factors within habitats, ecosystems,
and biomes.
ENVIRO 6. Know that environments change naturally.
I can:
I can summarize how human activities are affecting water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles.
o
o
Ex. It is believed humans have contributed to global warming. How has this affected the allocation of
water within the water cycle?
Initial understanding
Final understanding
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I can diagram and interpret the water, carbon, nitrogen, and rock cycles.
o
o
Ex. Draw the rock cycle.
Initial understanding
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Final understanding
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I can evaluate fluctuations in data from the nutrient cycles.
o
o
Ex. what is the major cause of the increase of the nitrogen cycle?
Initial understanding
Final understanding
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I can describe the importance of nitrogen fixation, and how it works.
o
o
Ex. How do plants use nitrogen from the air? How does this benefit us?
Initial understanding
Final understanding
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I can explain the nutrients recycle, and Energy does not.
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o
Ex. Explain how this statement is true: Energy comes and goes while matter stays forever.
Initial understanding
Final understanding
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I can describe the interrelationships between the roles of the biotic and abiotic environments in these cycles.
o
o
Ex. List two major abiotic parts of an ecosystem and how they are important to human life.
Initial understanding
Final understanding
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I can summarize the importance and causes of the Greenhouse Effect.
o
o
Ex. Relate the greenhouse effect to a positive feedback mechanism.
Initial understanding
Final understanding
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Unit 4: Water and Nutrient Cycles
Unit 4: Water and Nutrient Cycles assignments
These notes
Please check teacher website for due dates
test
Follow along with the power point from Environment: The Science Behind the Stories by
Withgott and Brennan, ch 7.
Slide 3 shows a fisherman unable to work.
Why is the fisherman not working?
Which nutrient cycles have affected him?
Slide 5 shows body temperature homeostasis as an example of a negative feedback loop.
Describe a negative feedback loop.
Give another example of a negative feedback loop.
Slide 6 shows increasing erosion in a valley as an example of a positive feedback loop.
Describe a positive feedback loop.
Give another example of a positive feedback loop.
Slide 9 is a chart showing the use of nitrogen fertilizer in the US over the last 50 years.
Describe the trend shown in the chart.
Slide 8 showed the watershed for the Mississippi River. What kind of interaction could there be
between the use of nitrogen fertilizers and the enormous Mississippi watershed?
Slide 11 has two charts: one shows the path of energy in the environment, the other shows the
path of matter.
Compare and contrast the two charts.
Which cycle is constantly renewed?
Which cycle is a closed loop?
Slide 17 shows a portion of a lake with a large amount of phosphorus added.
What happened when the phosphorous cycle was disturbed?
What will this lead to?
Slide 23 shows the carbon cycle.
Which part of the cycle has the largest amount of carbon?
Where do we pull carbon out of the cycle? (Two main ways.)
What method of carbon going into the atmosphere do we have a lot of influence over?
How does carbon leave the atmosphere?
What is a tree made of?
What is a fossil fuel?
What is the greenhouse effect?
What does carbon have to do with the greenhouse effect?
Is the greenhouse effect a positive or a negative feedback loop?
What are the biotic and the abiotic portions of this system?
Draw the carbon cycle in simple format.
Slide 24 shows the phosphorus cycle.
Where is most the Earth’s phosphorus?
What do we do to directly affect the movement of phosphorus in the cycle?
What do we need phosphorus for?
Draw the phosphorus cycle in simple format.
Slide 25 shows the nitrogen cycle.
Where is most the nitrogen stored?
Why is atmospheric nitrogen called inert?
What are the only two natural methods to turn atmospheric nitrogen into a useable form?
What are two methods we move nitrogen in the cycle?
What do we need nitrogen for?
Draw the nitrogen cycle in simple format.
Slide 26 shows nodules on plant roots.
What is the purpose of these nodules? (what’s in them)
What does nitrogen fixation do?
What are some crops that fix nitrogen?
Slide 33 shows the water cycle.
Where is most water stored?
Where is the second highest concentration of water?
What is evaporation?
What is runoff?
What is precipitation?
What is condensation?
What is groundwater?
What is transpiration?
What are the biotic and the abiotic portions of this system?
Draw the water cycle in simple format.
Slide 34 shows the three phases of rock in the rock cycle.
What has to happen to form igneous rock?
What has to happen to form sedimentary rock?
What is sediment?
What has to happen to form metamorphic rock?
What does it mean to morph?
What is weathering and erosion?
What does weathering and erosion lead to?
Slide 35 shows the tectonic plates of the world.
What are tectonic plates?
Create an analogy/physical model for tectonic plates.
How do the plates relate to the picture of Pangaea on slide 36?
Slide 37 shows different tectonic plate interactions.
Describe what happens at a divergent boundary.
Describe what happens at a transform boundary.
Describe what two things can happen at a convergent boundaries.
Vocab to know:
Carbon cycle
Condensation
Evaporation
Fossil fuels
Greenhouse effect
Groundwater
Nitrogen cycle
Nitrogen fixation
Physical weathering
Precipitation
Rock cycle
Surface runoff
Transpiration
Water cycle