The carbon cycle, one of Earth's biogeochemical cycles.
Click on image for full size
NCAR
Biogeochemical Cycles
There are a few types of atoms that can be a part of a plant one day, an animal the next day, and then travel downstream as a part of a river’s water the following day. These atoms are found in living things like plants and animals. They are also found in non-living things like water, air, and rocks. The same atoms are recycled over and over in different parts of the Earth.
All of the atoms that are building blocks of living things are a part of these cycles. The most common of these are carbon and nitrogen. Find out more about how carbon and nitrogen move around the Earth!
Tiny atoms of carbon and nitrogen have no legs to walk, no bicycles, cars, or airplanes. Yet they can travel around the world. So, how do these little things move around the planet? Here’s an example: An atom of carbon is absorbed from the air into sea water. There, it is used by little floating plankton as they get the nutrition they need using the Sun’s energy to make food. This little carbon atom might become part of the plankton’s skeleton, or a part of the skeleton of a fish who eats it. Then it may become part of a sedimentary rock when the living things die and their bones are left behind. Carbon that is a part of rocks and fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas may be held away from the rest of the carbon cycle for a long time. When fossil fuels are burned, carbon that had been underground is sent into the air as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
Recently, people have been causing these cycles to change (see links below). When we cut down forests, make more factories, and drive more cars that burn fossil fuels, the way that carbon and nitrogen move around the Earth changes. These changes add more greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and this causes more global warming.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
"
Ready, Set, SCIENCE!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms", from the National Research Council, provides insight on the types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding. Check our other
books in our
online store.
You might also be interested in:
Kingdom Plantae has almost 300,000 different kinds of plants. Plants are found all over planet Earth. They can live in fields, in swamps, in oceans and in the desert. They can live where it is hot and
...more
Rivers are very important to Earth because they are major forces that shape the landscape. Also, they provide transportation and water for drinking, washing and farming. Rivers can flow on land or underground
...more
There are many different kinds of plants. Some have big leaves. Some have small leaves. Some even have flowers. All plants make their own food. When sunlight hits the leaves of a plant, photosynthesis
...more
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a kind of gas. There isn't that much carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, but it is still very important. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. That means it helps trap heat coming
...more
Only a tiny amount of the gases in Earth’s atmosphere are greenhouse gases. But they have a huge effect on climate. There are several different types of greenhouse gases, but they all have something in
...more
Have you ever taken your temperature to see if you are getting sick? Scientists have been taking the Earth's temperature and have found that it is getting warmer. During the past 100 years, the Earth's
...more
You can’t see air molecules. But if you could, you would see that most of them are made of two atoms of nitrogen bonded together. Nitrogen is not just in the sky. It is found all over the planet. It is
...more
