Coming up...how are YOU connected to a dinosaur? We'll find out, but first, let's visit some environmental cycles to help us find the answer.
What is an environmental cycle?
All “things” are made up of matter, including elements. And matter is made up of atoms. Matter is permanent; it cannot be created or destroyed. Every atom in the entire world will not disappear; each will be around forever. But matter can be changed, and it can move. Environmental cycling is the movement of elements through the environment.
1- The Water Cycle
- Evaporation and transpiration – evaporation is when water in oceans, rivers, and lakes gets heated by the sun until it turns into steam (water vapor) and is absorbed into the air. Transpiration happens when plants lose water out of their leaves.
- Condensation – when water vapor is moved into the air, it cools off. As it cools, it condenses into bigger particles of water and forms clouds.
- This is just like when your glass of cold lemonade seems to “sweat” on a hot summer day. Warmer water vapor in the air condensed into bigger particles of water when it touched the cold glass.
- Precipitation occurs when enough water has condensed that the air cannot hold it anymore. Heavy clouds ‘burst’ and water falls back to the earth as rain.
- Collection – when water falls back to earth, it falls into bodies of water (oceans, streams, lakes, rivers) and on land. On land, it may be absorbed as ground water or it may lead back into a body of water as runoff. Then the cycle begins again. If it flows into a body of water (a lake, river, ocean), it will get evaporated. But it could instead get absorbed by plants - then it would be evaporate out of the plant leaves - transpiration. Or maybe all that talk about lemonade made you thirsty, and you drank some water. What now? Where does it go? Well, what happens after you drink a lot of anything? Yup, you guessed it - you pee it out. So all those animals outside drinking water will eventually have to pee, too. And when they do, nutrients in the urine get absorbed into the ground, and the water...is evaporated - that's right! So you, your pet, and all those animals in your yard are all participating in the cycling of water through the environment. Pretty cool, huh?
Then, play this water cycle game.
2- Nutrient Cycling: The Carbon Cycle
What is carbon? Carbon is a very important element – in fact, all living things contain carbon. Without it, there would be no life on earth. There is carbon in the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, and there is carbon in oceans. The carbon cycle moves carbon from the atmosphere and oceans into living organisms, and back into the atmosphere and ocean. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to make energy through a process called photosynthesis . When animals – like rabbits, cows, or you – eat plants, they take in that carbon and use it to build body tissues. When other animals eat plant-eating animals (a fox eating a rabbit, for example) they take in the carbon from the animal they ate and use it to build their body tissue. Through a process called cellular respiration, living organisms release carbon back into the atmosphere when they breathe, where a plant can take it in again during photosynthesis. Decomposition gives off carbon, too. When plants and animals die, they decompose, releasing carbon into the soil. That carbon can be used by plants or small microorganisms called detritivores. Detritivores may die and release the carbon back into the soil where it can be used by plants, or they, too, might get eaten and pass the carbon on to another animal. And through respiration…well, you get the picture.
Carbon is also exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean, through absorption and off-gassing. Many ocean organisms use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis or for making their shells. Eventually, these shells pile up on the ocean floor, forming limestone and chalk sediment. In fact, the chalk you use to color on blackboards is made out of that very chalk!
Erupting volcanoes and burning wood or fossil fuels like natural gas, coal or oil releases carbon into the atmosphere. How do fossil fuels get carbon? Sometimes an animal or plant dies and doesn’t decompose right away. Instead, it might get covered up by sand, mud, or ash, and over millions of years, turn into fossil fuels. This happens most often at the bottoms of oceans. Instead of the carbon being released into the atmosphere, is gets buried and stored deep in the earth. These areas are called carbon pools. In fact, most of the carbon on earth is stored in carbon pools.
Fossil fuel burning isn’t the only way to get the carbon out of the earth, though. As the earth’s crust moves, limestone at the bottom of the ocean may be pushed up higher and higher, until it is eventually exposed to air. Through a process called weathering, rocks release carbon into the atmosphere. Or, the carbon may be forced deeper into the earth until it melts, eventually rising to the surface and being released into the atmosphere through a volcano or steam vent.
So - back to our original question: How are you connected to a dinosaur? Check back soon, because the answer is coming up next!
In the meantime, click here to play a carbon cycle game and quiz!
Or go here for more carbon cycle fun!
3- The Dinosaur Connection
So just how are you connected to a dinosaur? Remember that atoms are permanent; they can be moved and combined into different arrangements, but neither made nor destroyed. Think about the cycles you’ve learned about. How water travels from the atmosphere to the earth as precipitation, gets used by different organisms, and eventually evaporated back into the atmosphere. How carbon is exchanged between the atmosphere and the oceans, gets processed by different organisms, and ends up in back in carbon pools like the atmosphere. All of these molecules of water or carbon are made up of atoms moving through their cycles, but not forming or disappearing. Are you figuring out where we’re headed with this? Let’s back up about 200 million years ago during the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic era and follow a single carbon atom which we’ll call El Carbono:
The sky is darkening and there is a thunderous rumble. Off in the distance, a volcano erupts, spewing hot lava, ash, and noxious gasses for miles. Part of the gaseous mix is carbon, and one of those atoms of carbon is El Carbono. El carbono travels around the atmosphere for a long time, going a far distance until one day when it comes upon a giant fern, which gets its energy through photosynthesis. There goes El Carbono into a stomata on the fern! Along comes a hungry stegosaurus that eats the fern. Now El Carbono is a part of the Stegosaurus, who uses it for respiration. But the Stegosaurus is old, and does not live much longer. Soon, a hungry Allosaurus comes by and finds the stegosaurus to be a perfect meal. The Allosaurus feasts, eating the Stegosaurus and – you guessed it! – El Carbono. El Carbono moves through Allosaurus’ cells and tissues during respiration, until he is exhaled back into the atmosphere. For millions of years, El Carbono continues to cycle from the atmosphere to plants during photosynthesis, on to animals, sometimes passing through soil as it is released from decomposing organisms, and back into the atmosphere. Then one day, El Carbono is taken in through the stomata of an orange tree, helping a ripe, juicy orange to grow. That orange gets picked and shipped to a grocery store – that happens to be the one in your neighborhood! As you are out grocery shopping, you pick up that very orange and put it into your basket. And the next day while you are eating lunch, you eat El Carbono with your orange! And now El Carbono, who was once part of a dinosaur, is part of you. Pretty cool, huh?
Go here for more dinosaur facts and games!
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