The Carbon Cycle

The scene lets students explore the Carbon Cycle to learn what carbon is needed for, how it is recycled by living things and how the stores of carbon reservoirs contribute to controlling carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Students will also explore how human activity will have altered the carbon cycle leading to an increased production od carbon dioxide and its retention in the atmosphere due to combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation respectively.

# Learning objectives

1: Be able to describe the processes involved in the carbon cycle.{.info}

2: Be able to describe how cardon is stored in carbon reservoirs{.info}

3: Be able to explain why human activity increases carbon release{.info}

# Recycling Carbon{.objective .objective1}

In this section, how carbon is recycled is described. From plants absorbing carbon dioxide for photosynthesis to all living things releasing it from stored sources due to respiration, Carbon can be recycled within an ecosystem.

# Storing Carbon{.objective .objective2}

In this section, how carbon is stored will be described. During the recycling, not all carbon is released, as a lot is absorbed then stored as biomass. Biomass predominantly includes carbohydrates (sugar and starch), lipids ad protein, along with other specific molecules such as cellulose in plants. These molecules lock up carbon within the biomass reservoir and will either remain stored if fossilised, or released if decomposers cause decay of organic molecules.

# Human Activity{.objective .objective3}

In this section, how human activity impacts the carbon cycle will be outlined. Humans have combusted fossil fuels for over a hundred years, as well as use wood as a source of fuel. As more humans use these fuels, more carbon is being released as carbon dioxide from these stored sources. Mining and logging, has also contributed to the increase in carbon dioxide, as deforestation reduces the amount of trees available to absorb and store carbon. Therefore, more is retained in the atmosphere.