Cycles of Matter:

Conservation of Energy:• Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change

forms

Conservation of Matter:• Matter (at an atomic level) cannot be created or destroyed, it

can only change forms

E = mc2

• Energy = Mass x Speed of Light2

• What does it mean? Energy can be converted into matter and matter can change back into energy.

Cycles of Matter:• Energy is used as it flows through an ecosystem, but eh

chemical elements that are the building blocks of all organisms exist in a cycle, being used over and over again

• Examples: • Carbon• Oxygen• Nitrogen• Hydrogen

Carbon-Oxygen Cycle:• Carbon is an element that is contained in all organic matter• Basic Cycle: Photosynthesis & Cellular Respiration

Photosynthesis:

6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2

The most common way carbon is transported through an ecosystem is as carbon dioxide. Plants take in carbon dioxide in order to make glucose. As a result, it releases oxygen as a waste product.

Cellular Respiration:

C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy

The carbon from the carbon dioxide, along with the oxygen and hydrogen (from water) is converted into glucose. Then, cellular respiration combines glucose with oxygen to release energy and produce carbon dioxide.

Decomposers:• If the carbon stored in glucose is not processed through

cellular respiration, the organism will store the carbon in its body structures or excrete as waste. When the organism dies, decomposers (bacteria) break down the carbon compounds in the dead organisms and their wastes and release carbon dioxide into the air.

Combustion:• The burning of fossil fuels for energy and industry is release

more carbon into the atmosphere than can be converted into oxygen, thus leading to a build-up of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere which retains heat and leads to global warming.

Nitrogen Cycle:• Nitrogen is an important material needed by organisms to

make proteins. Nitrogen also makes up 78% of the Earth’s Atmosphere. The constant recycling of nitrogen compounds makes up the cycle.

Water Cycle:• The continuous movement of water (hydrogen/oxygen) in the

biosphere

• Transpiration: evaporation from plants/trees

• Runoff: When precipitation is occurring at a faster rate than it infiltrates the soil, thus it flows along the surface