Plants & The Carbon Cycle Plants take in carbon dioxide and convert it to sugar which can be stored until used for energy. This process is called photosynthesis.

Plants & The Carbon Cycle

• Plants take in carbon dioxide and convert it to sugar which can be stored until used for energy.

• This process is called photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis:

CO2 + H2O + sunlight yields O2 + C6H12O6

Plants & The Carbon Cycle

• Plants release carbon dioxide as a waste product when they convert their stored sugar to chemical energy.

• This process is called respiration.

Respiration:

C6H12O6 + O2 yields CO2 + H2O + energy

Animals & The Carbon Cycle

• Animals eat carbon contained in animal and plant tissues and release carbon dioxide as a waste product.

• This process is respiration.

Decay & The Carbon Cycle:

• Decomposers release the carbon from dead plant and animal tissues back into the atmosphere.

Fossil Fuels & The Carbon Cycle:

• Over millions of years fossil fuels may form from the buried remains of plants and animals.

Fossil Fuels & The Carbon Cycle:

• This carbon reenters the atmosphere during combustion.

The Oceans & The Carbon Cycle:

• Dissolved carbon dioxide in sea water becomes deposited as calcium carbonate shells.

The Oceans & The Carbon Cycle:

• Over millions of years, these shells form sedimentary rock.

• Ocean deposits are the biggest sink of carbon on the planet.

• The Rock Cycle ultimately releases carbon stored in sedimentary rock.

Explain

Natural Sources

of

Carbon

Sources of Carbon from Human Activity

•Death of plants and animals•Animal waste•Atmospheric CO2•Weathering•Methane gas from cows (and other ruminants)•Aerobic respiration from terrestrial and aquatic life

•Burning wood or forests•Cars, trucks, planes•Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas to produce heat and energy.

Elaborate

• Use given data to track information about the relationship between temperature and CO2. Graph the information and debrief.

Debriefing

1. What is the temperature trend from 1950 through 2001?

2. What is the CO2 trend from 1950 through 2001?

3. What is the relationship between temperature and carbon dioxide?

4. List at least four sources that might increase the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

5.The industrial revolution began in 1760. If the amount of CO2 was 276.72 ppm, what inferences might be made about the relationship between human activity and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

6.How does photosynthesis by algae (and plants to a lesser degree) affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

7.List at least three ways to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

8. What are possible replacements for fossil fuels?

9.Define in your own words what the greenhouse effect is and why we should be concerned about it.