Carbon Cycle

Hi classmates!!

TASK CARD No. 10..(the carbon cycle)

The image above is a simple diagram of the carbon cycle...

ANIMALS IN THE CARBON CYCLE

Animals are a very important part of the carbon cycle.

The plants get carbon from the carbon dioxide in the air (as part of photosynthesis), animals then eat the plants and use the carbon to build their own tissues. After the animals die they decompose back into the earth and then help the plants to grow again, contributing to the carbon cycle.

CARBON IN THE AIR
There are two simple ways for carbon in plants to end up back in the air.
No.1: through respiration in plants (when the carbon is "breathed" out of the plant etc.)
No.2: when animals consume the plant, they then breathe out carbon dioxide back into the air.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air affects the Earth's temperature in a major way. The more greenhouse gases we produce, the more carbon dioxide is in the air. And when there is lots of carbon dioxide in the air it contributes to global warming, therefore raising the Earth's temperature.
Carbon dioxide is the substance that we breathe out every day, it is everywhere around us even though we don't know it!
WHERE IS CARBON STORED
Carbon is stored within living and non-living things. But it it stored for the longest in the soil...
When plants die they decompose and become a part of the soil. They are stored here in the ground for long periods of time before it is transformed into fossil fuels or sometimes coal.
HUMANS AND THE CARBON CYCLE
Humans have disturbed the carbon cycle in two ways which have decreased the carbon dioxide in oceans and plants and added more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
If humans didn't exist the carbon cycle would suffer but it would still take place because there would still be other animals in the cycle.
Humans add unneccesary extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere with greenhouse gases and through the use of machinery and cars. All the new technology of today and the future, certainly will not help the carbon cycle.

Watch for more updates on the carbon cycle :)

Natalia and Ella