1. CARBON ATOM TRACKER COMIC STRIP
June 30 – Carbon
Hi, I’m a CARBON atom! I’m a part of a starch molecule in this duckweed plant. Whoa! My duckweed plant just got eaten by a duck! Now I’m in the duck’s stomach.

2. July 6 - Carbon
The duckweed really got ripped apart in the duck's stomach. But my starch molecule made it through the digestion process. The duck sent me into the water in its poop! I’ve settled down to the bottom of the pond. It’s amazing that I’m still a part of the same starch molecule!

3. Oh boy – here comes some bacteria. There are a lot of them down here
Oh boy – here comes some bacteria. There are a lot of them down here! Bacteria are good at getting energy out of other organisms’ waste. They can get their energy from dead organisms. They break apart molecules that were once inside dead plants and animals. They release atoms and molecules so they can be used again. This is called DECOMPOSITION.
July 10 - Carbon

4. The bacteria broke my starch molecule to release energy that their cell could use. The bacteria had to take in OXYGEN to break down my starch molecule for energy. What was that process called again? Oh yeah – RESPIRATION. Now, I was released back into the water as carbon dioxide. Bacteria break down material into smaller molecules that are released back into the environment. That’s why we call them DECOMPOSERS.
July 16 - Carbon

5. July 22 - Carbon
Wheee! Now that I’m back in the carbon dioxide molecule I could be taken up by a plant at any moment to be used in PHOTOSYNTHESIS, but for now I’m free! I’m a gas molecule, but I’m surrounded by water – it’s a pretty strange feeling.

6. July 25 - Carbon
I bumped into a green algae cell and it absorbed me right through its cell wall! The green algae used a process called PHOTOSYNTHESIS to turn a bunch of my carbon dioxide buddies and me into a glucose molecule.

7. July 28 - Carbon
The green algae linked me with a bunch of other glucose molecules to make a big molecule called starch. Did you know that starch is the same kind of molecule that you find in potatoes? And duckweed!

8. CARBON ATOM TRACKER COMIC STRIP
August 15 - Carbon
Wow! The algae cell that I was a part of just got eaten by a fathead minnow! The minnow broke apart most of the glucose and starch molecules in the algae for energy. During RESPIRATION the minnow used a lot of OXYGEN and gave off a lot of carbon dioxide molecules. My starch molecule was ripped apart and now I’m back in the water as a carbon dioxide molecule.