2. What is Nitrogen? An element found in both in organic and inorganic compounds What is the Nitrogen Cycle? Biochemical cycle Composed of reservoirs that store nitrogen Important for life and healthy ecosystem

4. Why is Nitrogen important? Nitrogen is needed to make amino acids and nucleotides They can only be made with organic nitrogen which is found in organisms Plants, bacteria, and natural processes (lightning or fire) convert inorganic nitrogen into organic nitrogen Now we’ll do an activity where you’ll travel as a nitrogen atom though the cycle

5. How many stops can you make on your trip? Will your journey ever end? Was everyone's journey the same? Why not? What would happen if a farmer used too much fertilizer? (In this game, that would mean that everyone started from the fertilizer station at the same time.) Livestock farming creates a large amount of animal waste. How would this affect the nitrogen cycle?

6. A build-up of sediment and organic matter in bodies of water, which may cause a change in the productivity of the ecosystem. Caused by excess nutrients such as nitrogen allowing the growth of excess blue-green algae The algae restrict light and oxygen causing a dead zone

8. In addition to dead zones, excess fertilizer can cause the release of greenhouse gases Bacteria in soil convert nitrogen into nitrous oxide (N2O) a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.

9. Managing the Nitrogen Cycle These impacts on the environment are why this is one of the NAE Grand Challenges

10. http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/ nitrogen_main.html http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/ nitrogen_main.html http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9132.aspx http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9132.aspx http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/e ncyclopedia/dead-zone/?ar_a=1 http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/e ncyclopedia/dead-zone/?ar_a=1 http://phys.org/news/2012-10-excess-nitrogen- fertilizer-china.html http://phys.org/news/2012-10-excess-nitrogen- fertilizer-china.html