carbon cycle

• Life on earth has existed for billions of years and this has been possible because it recycles everything from molecules like water and carbon dioxide to individual atoms like nitrogen phosphorus and carbon
• Atoms can be used over and over again to make loads of different organisms over millions and millions of years
• Of the estimated six octillion atoms or six thousand trillion trillion atoms that you have inside you right now, you have countless atoms that have been in oceans volcanoes other animals and even other humans that have been recycled and are now inside you
• Water cycle


  1. Energy from the sun causes water evaporation

  2. Water vapor accumulates and condenses into clouds

  3. Water falls back down as precipitation

  4. Water seeps into soil, flows into rivers, or is taken up by plants

  5. Cycle repeats
• Carbon cycle


  1. Plants take in carbon dioxide from atmosphere and convert it into biological molecules through photosynthesis

  2. Carbon in plants can be released back to atmosphere through respiration or passed on to animals

  3. When plants and animals die, carbon can be released as carbon dioxide through microbial respiration or converted into fossil fuels

  4. Fossil fuels can be burned by humans to produce carbon dioxide
• Places where carbon is stored

  • Air (as carbon dioxide)
  • Plants (in biological molecules)
  • Soil (containing bacteria and microorganisms)
  • Fossil fuels (underground)
  • Animals (in biological molecules)
• The carbon cycle is more complex and includes more living organisms than the water cycle
• Burning of plants like burning logs in a fire or burning biofuels in an engine can also release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere