1. KEY CONCEPT Matter cycles in and out of an ecosystem.

2. Elements essential for life also cycle through ecosystems.
A biogeochemical cycle is the movement of a particular chemical through the biological and geological parts of an ecosystem.

3. Water cycles through the environment.
The hydrologic, or water, cycle is the circular pathway of water on Earth.
Organisms all have bodies made mostly of water.
precipitation
condensation
transpiration
evaporation
water storage
in ocean
surface
runoff
lake
groundwater
seepage

4. Define the following terms:
Precipitation
Condensation
Evaporation
Transpiration
Runoff
Seepage (Infiltration)

5. Oxygen cycles indirectly through an ecosystem by the cycling of other nutrients.
respiration
carbon
dioxide
photosynthesis

6. Think about the processes of cellular respiration and photosynethsis
What is the chemical reaction of photosynthesis?
What is the chemical reaction of cellular respiration?
Why are both a part of the oxygen cycle?
Why would there be more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere if there were less plants on Earth?

7. Carbon is the building block of life.
The carbon cycle moves carbon from the atmosphere, through the food web, and returns to the atmosphere.
Carbon is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels.
Some carbon is stored for long periods of time in areas called carbon sinks.
fossil fuels
photosynthesis
carbon dioxide
dissolved in water
decomposition
of organisms
respiration
carbon
dioxide
in air
combustion

8. The Carbon Cycle is essential for life
What is an organic compound?
Why are cellular respiration and photosynthesis also part of the carbon cycle?
What is a fossil fuel?
What happens when fossil fuels are burned?

9. The nitrogen cycle mostly takes place underground.
Some bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen into ammonia through a process called nitrogen fixation.
Some nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in nodules on the roots of plants; others live freely in the soil.
nitrogen in
atmosphere
animals
denitrifying
bacteria
nitrifying
ammonium
ammonification
decomposers
plant
nitrogen-fixing
bacteria in soil
bacteria in roots
nitrates
nitrites

10. Ammonia released into the soil is transformed into ammonium.
Nitrifying bacteria change the ammonium into nitrate.
Nitrogen moves through the food web and returns to the soil during decomposition.
nitrogen in
atmosphere
animals
denitrifying
bacteria
nitrifying
ammonium
ammonification
decomposers
plant
nitrogen-fixing
bacteria in soil
bacteria in roots
nitrates
nitrites

11. Nitrogen is also vital for life
Why is nitrogen necessary in cells?
Define the following terms:
Nitrogen Fixation
Ammonification
Nitrification
What organisms play a BIG role in the nitrogen cycle? Why?

12. The phosphorus cycle takes place at and below ground level.
Phosphate is released by the weathering of rocks.
Phosphorus moves through the food web and returns to the soil during decomposition.
Phosphorus leaches into groundwater from the soil and is locked in sediments.
Both mining and agriculture add phosphorus into the environment.
geologic uplifting
rain
weathering of
phosphate from rocks
runoff
sedimentation
forms new rocks
leaching
phosphate in solution
animals
plants
decomposers
phosphate
in soil

13. Phosphorous Cycle
The Phosphorous Cycle is different than all the others because is never enters the ________________.
Where can phosphorous be found?