Carbon Cycle Game Cards

Name an organic molecule that carbon is found in.

Glucose, carbohydrates, lipids, DNA, and protein

Why should the amount of carbon in the atmosphere stay the same?

Photosynthesis and respiration should balance each other out

Where do secondary consumers get their carbon from?

Primary consumers (eating meat)

How do organisms move carbon through the carbon cycle?

Respiration, decomposition, sedimentation, and photosynthesis

Which produces more energy, aerobic respiration or fermentation?

Respiration.

What is a carbon sink?

Something that removes carbon from the atmosphere

Which of these historical events led to a major imbalance in the carbon cycle.

The Industrial Revolution.

How does carbon become locked inside the earth?

The carbon-rich bodies of plants and animals decay into the earth after they die.

Why are producers and consumers important to the carbon cycle?

They add (consumers) or remove (producers) carbon dioxide back to/from the atmosphere by performing cellular respiration (consumers) or photosynthesis (producers

How did extra carbon get into the atmosphere today?

Through the burning of fossil fuels in power stations and cars

Using fewer fossil fuels could help restore equilibrium to the carbon cycle. What does "equilibrium" mean?

Balance.

By what method is the majority of carbon moved from the lithosphere to the atmosphere?

Fossil Fuels

(Fill in the blank) ATP is to your cells as ______ is to a car.

Gasoline

What do producers produce?

Glucose (carbohydrates)

What process removes carbon from the atmosphere?

Photosynthesis

How does oxygen get into the water?

Photosynthesis, movement of water.

What kind of organism sequesters the most carbon from the atmosphere?

Plants

Humans burn fossil fuels and wood, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide is then absorbed by trees for photosynthesis. These processes are contributory to which chemical cycle?

The carbon cycle

Where does the carbon in an animal or plant go when the organism dies?

The soil - and is then recycled through decomposers

What's one major reason human cells have evolved to depend on aerobic, and not anaerobic, respiration?

Aerobic respiration produces more energy than anaerobic respiration.

What organisms in the ocean absorb the most carbon dioxide?

Algae and marine plants

How is the carbon cycle similar to the water cycle?

Both involve the transfer of substances between animals, plants, and the earth

How do carbon emissions lead to global warming?

By trapping the sun's heat in the atmosphere.

What are the chemical products of cellular respiration?

Carbon dioxide, water, and ATP

In fermentation, what do cells use instead of oxygen to break down glucose?

Carbon dioxide.

How does the human body return carbon to the atmosphere in the carbon cycle?

Cellular respiration

How does carbon get back into the atmosphere from the food we eat?

Cellular respiration.

True or false, is the ocean floor one of the major carbon stores on Earth?

False

Where can you find carbon?

Inside every living thing on this earth.

If a forest fire occurs, what will happen to the carbon in the forest?

It will go into the atmosphere.

In which organelles does cellular respiration take place?

Mitochondria.

What do the respiratory system and cellular respiration have in common?

Oxygen plays a key role in both.

List three ways that we could reduce the extra carbon that is getting into the atmosphere.

Plant trees, use fewer fossil fuels, use more alternative/renewable energy, remove carbon dioxide from power plant/exhaust omissions, conserve electricity, electric cars, etc.

List three groups of producers

Plants, algae, and some bacteria

What process adds carbon to the atmosphere?

Respiration

In the carbon cycle, animals can release carbon back into the cycle through __________ or through __________.

respiration . . . decomposition

What molecule do trees get their carbon from?

Carbon dioxide

Where does all the carbon in organisms originate from?

Earth's atmosphere

Where do primary consumers get the carbon from?

Eating plants

How do we get the glucose we need to power our cells?

Eating.

Which cells in your body undergo cellular respiration?

Every cell in your body.

How do animals add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?

Through breathing

How does your body get rid of the carbon dioxide produced by cellular respiration?

Through your lungs.