In activity Part A, students will learn how the oceans "absorb" carbon by considering two ocean processes that "pump" carbon dioxide into the oceans: the physical carbon pump and the biological carbon pump. Students will also view a PowerPoint that will show what happens to carbon once it becomes part of the ocean's biological pump.

Students will investigate photosynthesis and respiration in plants. They will also apply their knowledge about these processes to the issue of deforestation in tropical forests.

In this activity, students visualize and model a commonly published diagram of global carbon pools and fluxes. Supplemental discussion questions guide students through considering the forms of carbon in pools, key carbon transforming processes associated with fluxes, and the implications for climate change.

Recycling MatterGiving us credit when you use our content and technology is not just important for legal reasons. When you provide attribution to CK-12 Foundation, you support the ability of our non-profit organization to make great educational experiences available to students around the world.Our Creative Commons License welcomes you to use our content and technology when you give us attribution. If you have any questions about our policies, contact us at support@ck12.org

Recycling MatterGiving us credit when you use our content and technology is not just important for legal reasons. When you provide attribution to CK-12 Foundation, you support the ability of our non-profit organization to make great educational experiences available to students around the world.Our Creative Commons License welcomes you to use our content and technology when you give us attribution. If you have any questions about our policies, contact us at support@ck12.org

The Science of EcologyGiving us credit when you use our content and technology is not just important for legal reasons. When you provide attribution to CK-12 Foundation, you support the ability of our non-profit organization to make great educational experiences available to students around the world.Our Creative Commons License welcomes you to use our content and technology when you give us attribution. If you have any questions about our policies, contact us at support@ck12.org

In this unit students will learn about the role of soil respiration in transferring carbon from the soil to the atmosphere, the possible impact of a warming climate on permafrost, and how to identify any feedbacks between a thawing permafrost and the carbon cycle.

In activity Part A, students will learn about soil composition, decomposition and soil respiration. Students will also design and carry out a laboratory experiment on how soil respiration rates might be influenced by one of the following climate-related variables - temperature, soil moisture, soil nutrients, soil fertility, and soil type.

In activity Part B, students will use videos and readings to explore a very special soil with an interesting past and an uncertain future—the permafrost.

Students participate in an activity that demonstrates the principles and dynamics of food chains and how energy is transferred when it passes from one organism to another.

Students analyze data and maps to understand how increased population growth impacts the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. Then they explore how the health of the Bay affects its animals.

Students analyze videos to make observations about species, populations, and communities of organisms and discuss their symbiotic relationships. Then they create a hypothetical marine ecosystem and describe the adaptive, trophic, and symbiotic relationships between the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem.

Students use the "jigsaw" method to develop an integrated understanding of the entire carbon cycle.

In this high school unit on ecosystems, students investigate the case of the rapid increase and decline of the buffalo population in the Serengeti. It motivates students to ask questions and develop initial hypotheses for what could have changed in the ecosystem to create such drastic population changes. Students analyze data from many populations of organisms in the Serengeti to figure out how disease eradication in the 1960s led to the major changes we see in the Serengeti today. In Bend 2, students evaluate the claim that trees store carbon and can reduce the impact of climate change. Students figure out how photosynthesis and cellular respiration are key mechanisms to explaining the role of trees in climate mitigation. Finally, students explore and compare climate change mitigation solutions.

Information on "Feedbacks from the terrestrial carbon cycle signifcantly affect future climate change," is discussed in this article.

Gases get into and out of the tree and to chloroplasts in the leaves of plants, the chemical reaction occuring at these chloroplasts and compare it to a chemical reaction model of photosynthesis.

Students will compare and contrast three types of symbiotic relationships, describe the relationship between zooanthellae and coral, and explain the effects of nitrogen-fixing bacteria on their symbiotic partners.

This lesson will introduce students to visualization capabilities available through NASA's Earth Observatory, global map collection, NASA NEO and ImageJ. Using these tools, they will build several animations of satellite data that illustrate carbon pathways through the Earth system. For instance, students will build animations of fire images that indicate carbon is being released into the atmosphere and make animations of plant productivity images that indicate carbon is being removed from the atmosphere and locked into the biosphere.

In this activity students model the cycles of matter by creating an ecosystem in a jar and observing how it changes over time. Students will also research the nitrogen, water, and carbon cycles and prepare presentations to share information with their peers.

This encyclopedia entry is for the term "autotroph." An autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals. Because autotrophs produce their own food, they are sometimes called producers. Text for this entry is appropriate for the middle and high school grade levels.