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Carbon Cycle Answer Key

Vocabulary: atmosphere, biomass, biosphere, carbon reservoir, carbon sink, fossil fuel,
geosphere, greenhouse gas, hydrosphere, lithosphere, photosynthesis

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

[Note: The purpose of these questions is to activate prior knowledge and get students thinking.
Students are not expected to know the answers to the Prior Knowledge Questions.]

In the process of photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and
water (H2O) from the soil. Using the energy of sunlight, plants build molecules of glucose
(C6H12O6) and oxygen (O2).

1. How do plants on Earth affect the amount of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere?

Plants absorb carbon dioxide, reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

2. Animals eat plants and produce carbon dioxide and water. How do animals affect the

amount of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere? Animals increase atmospheric carbon.

Gizmo Warm-up
The Carbon Cycle Gizmo allows you to follow the many
paths an atom of carbon can take through Earth’s systems.
To begin, notice the black carbon atom in the Atmospheric
CO2 area, highlighted in yellow. The glowing blue areas
represent possible locations the carbon atom could go next.

1. From Earth’s atmosphere, where can the carbon atom go

next? Exposed rocks, land plants, or oceanic CO2.

2. Click on Land plants and read the description. How did the carbon atom get from the

atmosphere to a plant? In photosynthesis, the plant formed glucose from CO2 and water.

3. Select Land animals. How did the carbon atom get from land plants into the animal?

The animal ate the plant or ate another animal that ate the plant.

4. Select Atmospheric CO2. How did the carbon atom get from land animals back to the

atmosphere? In cellular respiration, animals break down glucose and release CO2.

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Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:

Carbon pathways  Click Reset.

Introduction: Earth can be divided into four systems. The atmosphere is the air above Earth’s
surface. The hydrosphere is composed of all of Earth’s water. The geosphere is the rocky,
non-living part of Earth. The biosphere consists of all living things, including people. Some
scientists use the term “anthroposphere” to describe everything made or modified by humans.

Question: How does carbon move between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and
geosphere?

1. Explore: Use the Gizmo to create a path for carbon that begins and ends in the atmosphere.
Fill in the steps in the path below. Then, label each location with the system it represents.
Finally, summarize very briefly how the carbon atom got to that location.

Student results will vary. A sample path is shown.

Carbon path System How it got there
Atmospheric CO2 Atmosphere Atmospheric CO2 comes from volcanoes,
burning fossil fuels, and other sources.
Land plants Biosphere Plants absorb CO2 during photosynthesis.

Soil Geosphere Dead plants rot and become part of the soil.

Sediments Geosphere Soil is washed into lakes and oceans,

forming layers of sediment.
Lithosphere Geosphere Sediments are compacted to form
sedimentary rocks.
Volcano Geosphere Rocks melt below volcanoes.

Atmospheric CO2 Atmosphere CO2 is released during volcanic eruptions.

2. Create: Click Reset. Use the Gizmo to create a path in which the carbon atom goes from the
atmosphere to the hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere. Describe each transition briefly.

Atmosphere Hydrosphere Biosphere Geosphere

Atmospheric CO2 Oceanic CO2 Marine plants Sediments

Volcanoes, burning Carbon dioxide CO2 is converted to Carbon-rich plant

fossil fuels, and dissolves in cold glucose during remains break down
other sources. surface waters. photosynthesis. on the ocean floor.

(Activity A continued on next page)

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Activity A (continued from previous page)

3. Explore: Use the Gizmo to create three more carbon paths, each starting and ending in the
atmosphere. Label each location with A for atmosphere, B for biosphere, G for geosphere,
or H for hydrosphere. (You can also use P for anthroposphere if you like, or just include it in
the biosphere.)

Check all student paths in the Gizmo. Locations are categorized as follows:

Atmosphere: Atmospheric CO2, amospheric CH4

Hydrosphere: Oceanic CO2
Geosphere: Soil, sediments, limestone, lithosphere, volcano, petroleum, coal, natural gas
Biosphere: Land plants, land animals, forest fire, marine plants/algae, marine animals,
shells/coral
Anthroposphere (biosphere): Car, power plant, cement plant. (Note: petroleum, natural gas,
and coal can also be classified in the anthroposphere when they are extracted and
processed.)

4. Explain: Based on the Gizmo, explain how the following transitions might take place:

Check all student answers with the Gizmo. The most likely answers are given below.

A. Describe at least two ways that carbon can get from a land plant to the atmosphere.

A plant can be eaten by an animal, then CO2 is released in respiration, or a plant can
burn in a forest fire, releasing CO2. [A plant can also rot in the soil, releasing CO2
and CH4, or a plant can become coal or natural gas, which is burned to release CO2.]

B. Describe at least two ways that carbon can get from the atmosphere to the
hydrosphere

CO2 can dissolve directly into the ocean, or CO2 can dissolve in rainwater, cause
rocks to weather, and release bicarbonate ions into the ocean.

C. Can you find two ways that carbon can get from the ocean to the lithosphere? (The
lithosphere is the rigid layer of the Earth, including the crust and part of the mantle.)

Oceanic CO2 can be absorbed by marine plants or algae, which break down on the
ocean floor to become sediments. The sediments are then compacted to form rocks.
Oceanic CO2 can also be used to form calcium carbonate shells and coral. These
shells can become limestone, which is part of the lithosphere.

D. Describe at least two ways that carbon can get from seashells to the atmosphere.

Seashells form limestone. The limestone can be heated in a cement plant, releasing
CO2 to the atmosphere. Or, limestone can be melted under a volcano, which
releases CO2 in a volcanic eruption. [Other, longer paths are also possible.]

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Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:

Human activities  Click Reset.

Introduction: Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, formed over millions of years
from the remains of ancient plants and animals. The burning of fossil fuels, as well as other
human activities, increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Question: How does human activity affect the carbon cycle?

1. Describe: Using the Gizmo, determine how coal and petroleum (oil) are formed. Describe
the steps required to form each fuel from atmospheric CO2.

Coal: Atmospheric CO2 is absorbed by land plants. Plant material accumulates in swamps

and is buried and compressed to form coal.

Petroleum: Carbon-rich sediments are compressed and heated, slowly forming petroleum

over millions of years.

2. Explore: Natural gas is a mixture of methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), and other gases. Find
two ways that natural gas forms. List the steps of the two carbon pathways below:

Path 1: Atmospheric CO2 → Land plants → Natural gas

Path 2: Atmospheric CO2 → Oceanic CO2 → Marine plants → Sediments → Natural gas

How is the formation of natural gas related to the formation of coal and petroleum?

Natural gas forms as a byproduct of coal and petroleum formation.

3. Describe: Fossil fuels are used in many ways. Using the Gizmo, describe the main use for
each fuel.

Coal: Coal is mainly used in power plants.

Petroleum: Petroleum is mainly used in transportation.

Natural gas: Natural gas is mainly used in power plants.

In each case, what is the end product of burning the fossil fuel, and where does it go?

In each case, burning the fossil fuel produces CO2 that is released into the atmosphere.

(Activity B continued on next page)

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Activity B (continued from previous page)

4. Explore: Another major contribution to atmospheric carbon dioxide is the cement industry.
Using the Gizmo, find a carbon atom path from the atmosphere to the cement plant. (Hint:
One of the ingredients in cement is limestone.)

Path: Atmospheric CO2 → Oceanic CO2 → Shells/coral → Limestone → Cement plant

How is carbon dioxide produced in a cement plant?

In a cement plant, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is heated to produce calcium oxide (CaO)
and CO2. [Also, the fossil fuels that are burned to heat the calcium carbonate will produce
additional CO2.]

5. Analyze: Click Reset, then navigate to the Land animals. Select Atmospheric CH4.

A. How do land animals create methane? Bacteria in the guts of animals produce CH4.

B. Humans raise large numbers of cattle for food. How will these herds of cows affect
Earth’s atmosphere?

Herds of cows will produce large amounts of atmospheric CH4, which then breaks
down to CO2.

6. Analyze: In many tropical rainforests, people clear land by cutting down trees and burning
them. After a few years, the soil runs out of nutrients and cannot be farmed any longer. How
does this practice of “slash and burn agriculture” affect Earth’s atmosphere?

When forests are burned, CO2 is released into Earth’s atmosphere. Because the soil runs
out of nutrients after a while, this practice also reduces the amount of land plants. Since land
plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, this will increase the CO2 in the atmosphere.

7. Draw conclusions: In general, how do many human activities influence the carbon cycle?

In general, most human activities tend to increase the amount of carbon dioxide and
methane in Earth’s atmosphere.

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Activity C:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Modeling the
 Select the MODEL tab.
carbon cycle

Introduction: Humans have been burning fossil fuels rapidly for the past 250 years. As a result,
the amount of atmospheric CO2 has increased by about 40% since the year 1800. By measuring
how much carbon moves into and out of the atmosphere, scientists can predict the change in
the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide every year.

Question: How can we model changes in atmospheric carbon over time?

1. Observe: The MODEL tab shows a simplified model of the carbon cycle. The ovals
represent carbon reservoirs, where carbon is stored. The unit “GtC” stands for gigatonnes
of carbon, where one GtC is equal to one trillion kilograms of carbon. The arrows represent
how much carbon moves from one reservoir to another each year, in gigatonnes per year.

A. Look at the arrows pointing toward atmospheric CO2. What are the two major

sources of atmospheric carbon? Fossil fuels and soil.

B. A carbon sink is a location that stores carbon for a long period of time. What are two

carbon sinks that remove carbon from the atmosphere? The ocean and land plants.

C. Without changing the Gizmo, list the carbon reservoirs from largest to smallest.

Oceanic CO2, sediments, fossil fuels, soil, atmospheric CO2, and land plants.

Note: The largest carbon reservoir is actually Earth’s lithosphere, which contains
about 80,000 GtC. However, there is not much exchange between the lithosphere
and the other reservoirs on short time scales.

2. Experiment: If necessary, click Return to original settings. These settings approximate

present-day conditions, but should not be taken as exact values.

A. What is the total amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere each year by the

ocean and land plants? 65 GtC

B. What is the total amount of carbon added to the atmosphere from soil and the

burning of fossil fuels? 69 GtC

C. How much will atmospheric carbon change in one year? Increase by 4 GtC.

In 10 years? 40 GtC In 100 years? 400 GtC

(Activity C continued on next page)

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Activity C (continued from previous page)

3. Calculate: Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that helps to trap heat in Earth’s
atmosphere. We need some CO2 in the atmosphere to maintain a warm planet, but excess
carbon can cause considerable warming of the planet.

A. What fossil fuel usage will result in no change in atmospheric CO2 each year? 5 GtC

B. What percentage decrease in fossil fuel usage is required to achieve this goal? 44%

4. Experiment: Using the Gizmo model, explore the following questions:

A. How does increasing plant biomass (amount of plants) affect atmospheric CO2?

Increasing plant biomass will decrease atmospheric CO2.

B. How does increasing oceanic CO2 intake affect atmospheric CO2 and oceanic CO2?

This will decrease atmospheric CO2 and increase oceanic CO2.

As carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean, the ocean becomes slightly more
acidic. This could make it harder for many organisms to build their shells and
skeletons. The consequences of ocean acidification are not yet fully understood.

5. Infer: Click Reset and Return to original settings. Suppose we completely stopped
burning fossil fuels immediately. How many years would it take to return to atmospheric CO 2
levels from the year 1800, about 600 GtC? Use the Gizmo to find the answer.

About 50 years.

6. Think about it: Since hard-shelled organisms evolved about 550 million years ago, billions of
tons of limestone rock have been produced from their shells. Limestone is made of calcium
carbonate, with the formula CaCO3.

Based on this, how do you think the amount of atmospheric CO2 has changed in the last 550
million years, and how has this affected Earth’s climate? Explain your answer.

The formation of limestone removes CO2 from the atmosphere, which causes Earth’s
climate to gradually cool. Therefore, Earth’s climate has probably cooled in the last 550
million years. [In much of Earth’s past, atmospheric CO2 levels were higher than they are
today. However, solar output was also lower in the past than today. During much of Earth’s
past, the climate was warmer than today, there was no polar ice, and continents were
flooded by warm, shallow seas. However, glacial periods similar to today also occurred at
various times in Earth’s history.]

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