Cycles and Energy

Water

100

Water falls to the ground in this step

Precipitation

200

TRUE or FALSE: A cloud is made up entirely of gases

FALSE - clouds form from tiny liquid droplets of water

300

Water cycle step where water soaks into the ground

Infiltration

400

Water cycle step that collects water in large bodies like a lake or an ocean

Accumulation

500

Name three types of energy that play an important role in the water cycle

Kinetic motion (it moves from place to place)

Gravitational Potential (rain falls from the sky)

Heat/Thermal (causes phase changes/movement of water)

Radiation (heat energy comes from the sun)

Carbon

100

Carbon cycle step - the burning of fossil fuels

Combustion

200

Name a step that moves carbon from the atmosphere to the biosphere

Photosynthesis

300

Name a step where carbon moves from the biosphere to the geosphere

Burial / Fossil fuel formation

400

Decomposition moves carbon from the _______sphere to the ________sphere

Biosphere to the Atmosphere

500

Two parts:

1) What's the one carbon cycle step that humans have added to the cycle over the past few hundred years?

2)  What is the purpose of that step (why is it important to humans)?

1)  Combustion (of fossil fuels)

2)  Fossil fuels contain a lot of energy.  We use that energy to power cars and planes, heat our homes, run factories, etc, etc.

Cycles

100

TRUE or FALSE:  A cycle has to be a circle

FALSE.  Go look at your carbon cycle picture!

200

Name the two characteristics of a cycle (what makes something a cycle?)

1) It has multiple steps

2) It continues / repeats over and over (without any real beginning or end)

300

In three continuous steps (or more), move water around the water cycle from clouds to the ocean

Many possible answers, one example: Precipitation, Run-off, Accumulation

400

In three continuous steps (or more), move carbon in the carbon cycle from dissolved carbon in the ocean to glucose in plants

Many possible answers, one example:  Degassing (to atmosphere), Photosynthesis (to biosphere), Respiration (back to atmosphere), Photosynthesis again (to biosphere)

Spheres

100

All of Earth's water

Hydrosphere

200

All of Earth's air/gases

Atmosphere

300

All of Earth's living things

Biosphere

400

All of Earth's rocks and minerals

Geosphere

500

Give an example of something you might find in BOTH the water cycle AND the carbon cycle!

A body of water like an ocean - represents accumulation in the water cycle and can absorb carbon dioxide.

Also, changes in energy are important in both cycles.

(Might be more varied answers to this question)

Energy

100

Name 3 steps of the water cycle where a phase change occurs

Evaporation, Condensation, Transpiration, (sometimes) Precipitation

200

Explain what happens to the A) energy, B) speed, C) spacing, and D) density of water when it evaporates

There's MORE energy, the molecules move FASTER, they move APART, and become LESS DENSE

300

What molecule does a plant build during photosynthesis to store chemical potential energy?

Glucose

400

TRUE or FALSE: The real purpose of photosynthesis is so that plants make oxygen for us to breathe

FALSE!  The goal is to capture energy from the sun (in glucose/sugars) to use later.

500

You eat lunch and take a deep breath and then... this reaction happens, giving you energy to continue your day.

(Cellular) Respiration