Question

Type several paragraphs describing the full carbon cycle in detail. Discuss all components of your poster. Describe the exchange of carbon through carbon-containing compounds between an organism and the environment. Describe the contributions of photosynthesis and cellular respiration within and among the four spheres. Discuss how carbon enters and leaves each of the four spheres and in what forms.

Answer 1

The Carbon cycle is an important aspect of the survival of all life on earth. Carbon is the building block of life and forms stable bonds with other elements necessary for life. It is the backbone of existence. We are made of carbon, we eat carbon, and our civilizations—our economies, our homes, our means of transport—are built on carbon.

Discuss all components of your poster - Carbon moves from the atmosphere to plants and soil. Through the process of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is pulled from the air to produce food made from carbon for plant growth. Carbon moves from plants to animals. Through food chains, the carbon that is in plants moves to the animals that consume the plants. Carbon moves from plants and animals to soils. When plants and animals die, their bodies, wood and leaves decays bringing the carbon into the ground. Carbon moves from living things to the atmosphere. Each time a person or animal exhales, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Animals and plants dispose of carbon dioxide through a process called respiration. Carbon moves from the atmosphere to the oceans. The oceans, and other bodies of water, absorb some carbon from the atmosphere. The carbon is dissolved into the water and returned to the plants and animals in forms of rain.

Describe the exchange of carbon through carbon-containing compounds between an organism and the environment. - Carbon moves through the atmosphere in a gaseous state to form carbon dioxide. It is consumed by organisms and then is released by these organisms back into the atmosphere and the oceans.

Describe the contributions of photosynthesis and cellular respiration within and among the four spheres. Discuss how carbon enters and leaves each of the four spheres and in what forms. - Plants pull carbon dioxide out of the air through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis requires atmospheric carbon, while cellular respiration returns carbon to the atmosphere, and vice versa for oxygen. Another way that cellular respiration releases carbon into the atmosphere is through the actions of decomposers. Decomposers derive their nutrients by feeding on the remains of plants and animals. The bacteria and fungi use cellular respiration to extract the energy contained in the chemical bonds of the decomposing organic matter, and so release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

The poster illustrates how carbon is exchanged between the atmosphere, geosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. Cellular respiration in an organism (plants and animals) -biosphere- produce carbon dioxide as a waste product. This carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Plants then take up this carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and return the carbon from the atmosphere back to the biosphere. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere also dissolves in and out of the hydrosphere (oceans and seas) and the dissolved carbon dioxide is fixed by the photosynthetic organisms (algae) to organic carbon. Volcanos and fossil fuels (geosphere) also contribute to spewing out of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This carbon will also get into the biosphere by photosynthesis.