The Carbon Cycle

By Isabella Gobel
SC.8.L.18.3: Construct a
scientific model of the
carbon cycle to show how
matter and energy are
continuously transferred
within and between
organisms and their physical
environment.

Carbon
Every living thing is made up of carbon. Carbon is also a part of air,
rocks, and the ocean. Plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to
make their own food and grow. The carbon becomes part of the
plant.
Plants that die and are buried may turn into fossil fuels made of
carbon like coal and oil over millions of years. When humans burn
fossil fuels, most of the carbon quickly enters the atmosphere as
carbon dioxide.
Source: https://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles6.htm

Graphite (left) and diamond (right), are the two most

well-known allotropes of carbon

What is the Carbon Cycle?

The carbon cycle is the series of processes by which carbon
compounds are interconverted in the environment, involving the
incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by
photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere. Respiration, the
decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.
Source: https://www.google.com/search?
q=carbon+cycle&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IEAddress&ie=&oe=&safe=strict&gws_rd=ssl#safe=strict&q=carbo
n+cycle+definition

What is Carbon Dioxide?

Carbon dioxide is a colorless,
odorless gas produced by
burning carbon and organic
compounds and by
respiration. It is naturally
present in air and is absorbed
by plants in photosynthesis.
The chemical symbol for
carbon dioxide is CO2.

Variables Involved
in the Carbon Cycle

There are many different variables

that are involved in the carbon
cycle. Sunlight, photosynthesis,
decay organisms, organic carbon,
dead organisms and waste
products, fossils and fossil fuels,
plant and animal respiration, root
respiration, auto and factory
emissions, and ocean uptake. Now
Ill explain each of them to you so
you have a better understanding of
the carbon cycle.

Dissolved Organic Carbon and the Ocean

Carbon enters the ocean
mainly through the dissolution
of atmospheric carbon dioxide,
which is converted into
carbonate (a salt or ester of
carbonic acid). It can also
enter the oceans through rivers
as dissolved organic carbon. It
is converted by organisms into
organic carbon through
photosynthesis.

Decay Organisms and Decomposition

Decomposition is the process of rotting, also known as decay.
It is the largest source through which carbon is returned to the
atmosphere. Decomposers are microorganisms that live mostly
in the soil but also in water, and which feed on the rotting
remains of plants and animals. It is their job to consume both
waste products and dead matter and doing so also returns
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by respiration.
Source: http://www.scienceclarified.com/Ca-Ch/CarbonCycle.html#ixzz41IXwDqf3

Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the process by
which green plants and some other
organisms use sunlight to synthesize
foods from carbon dioxide and water.
Plants convert visible light from the
sun, water, and carbon dioxide into
sugar and oxygen.
Reference Brittani and/or Amber for
more information.

Here is a cheesy picture that is

supposed to be describing
photosynthesis

Sunlight is a portion of the

electromagnetic radiation given off by
the Sun, in particular infrared, visible,
and ultraviolet light

Plant and Animal Respiration

In respiration, plants and animals convert the photosynthates (sugars made
by photosynthesis) back into energy for growth and other life processes.
Here are some differences between plant and animal respiration: 1)
Animals have specific organs for respiration, but in plants, every part
respires separately. 2) Plants respire 2 different gases during day and
night(co2 in day and o2 in night), but animals take in only 1 gas (O2). 3)
Plants respire to make starch, but animals respire to use the gas obtained to
produce energy from the food already taken in. 4) Animals will have some
type of ventilation movements to facilitate the entry and exit of air (except
for animals which breathe through their body surface) but plants absorb air
by diffusion throughout their body surface.

Fossils and Fossil Fuels

Fossil- the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism
preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock.
Fossil Fuel- a material such as coal that forms over millions
of years from the remains of ancient plants and animals.
Plants that die and are buried may turn into fossil fuels made
of carbon like coal and oil over millions of years. When
humans burn fossil fuels, most of the carbon quickly enters
the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Fossil fuels (pictured above) are

hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or
natural gas, formed from the remains of
dead plants and animals.

Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis

Animals that eat plants, or that eat other animals, incorporate the
carbon in the sugars, fats, and proteins derived from the ingested
biomass into their bodies. Inside their cells, energy is extracted from
the food in a process called cellular respiration. Cellular respiration
requires oxygen (which is the by-product of photosynthesis) and it
produces carbon dioxide, which is used in photosynthesis. In this way,
photosynthesis and cellular respiration are linked in the carbon cycle.
Source: http://science.jrank.org/pages/1204/Carbon-Cycle-Cellularrespiration.html

How are Matter and Energy Continuously

Transferred Within and Between Organisms and
Their Physical Environment?
Neither matter nor energy is ever created or destroyed. Only
plants are able to capture the suns energy through the process of
photosynthesis. The plants take the energy from the sun and
transform it into stored energy. Herbivores eat the plants and get
some of the energy from the plant. Carnivores; or owls, for
example, eat mice. The mouse ate the insect that ate the plant
that absorbed the energy. And when we eat the animals that ate
the plant that absorbed the energy, we get some of the energy
too.