1. The Water Cycle: http://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsys tem/watercycle/ http://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsys tem/watercycle/

2. Accumulation Ground Water

3. What is the Water Cycle? The Water Cycle is an endless cycle where water is constantly moving throughout earth and the atmosphere Water is constantly changing form: –Ex: solid Snow melting into liquid water –Ex: Pond water evaporating into water vapor Did you know that the amount of water present on Earth never changes? Water just gets recycled from snow or ice to liquid water, and from liquid water to water vapor. Fact: 97% of all the water on Earth is in the seas Fact: Only 3% of Earth’s water is fresh (0.0036% of that is found in lakes, rivers…etc) Fact: Over 3,000 meters of the planet’s ice is found in Antarctica

4. Processes of the Water Cycle: Evaporation – liquid water changes to water vapor Transpiration – water evaporates from leaves of plants Condensation – water vapor changes to liquid water Precipitation – water falls from the atmosphere as rain, snow, hail, or sleet Runoff – water flows down hills or mountains Ground water – water that is stored underground

5. The Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen is an important element to all living things It aides in digestion, photosynthesis…etc The Nitrogen Cycle is a model describing how nitrogen moves from the atmosphere, to the soil, to living organisms, and then back to the atmosphere Most nitrogen is found in the air, as a gas but most plants and animals need nitrogen that has been combined with other elements to form nitrogen compounds These nitrogen compounds can be gases, solids, or liquids.

6. The Nitrogen Cycle Lightning causes some nitrogen fixation Nitrogen in the air Animals get nitrogen from plants Plant roots take up nitrogen from soil Dead animals and plants Bacteria in soil convert nitrogen back to gas Decomposition releases nitrogen into soil Bacteria in soil and plant roots perform most nitrogen fixation

7. What is Nitrogen Fixation? Nitrogen fixation- is where soil bacteria turn nitrogen into nitrogen compounds to make them usable to plants Plants absorb these nitrogen compounds through their roots Animals obtain the nitrogen by consuming other plants or animals When dead organisms decay, the nitrogen in their bodies returns to the soil or to the atmosphere by the work of decomposers (mushrooms, sac fungi, slime molds) ** Sometimes lightning can cause nitrogen fixation

8. The Nitrogen Cycle: http://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsys tem/nitrogencycle/ http://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsys tem/nitrogencycle/