Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen is important to all living things.

Nitrogen is a necessary ingredient for proteins and they are required for our cells. It is also part of the DNA in all living things. The atmosphere is made up of 75% Nitrogen but organisms cannot get it straight from the air. It is not in a usable form. Nitrogen gas can be changed into a usable form by: Nitrogen fixation through bacteria on the roots of certain plants (restore nitrogen to the soil) Lightning can change nitrogen into a usable state Decomposing organisms (plants and animals) add nitrogen back into the soil Fertilizers add nitrogen to the soil that is depleted due to crops being removed from the soil and not left to decay Animal waste returns Nitrogen compounds back to the soil

Carbon Cycle Carbon atoms are found in the molecules of all living things. Carbon is an important part of soil humus which is formed when dead organisms decay. Carbon is found in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas = C02. The carbon cycles begins when producers (plants) remove C02 from the atmosphere Plant use C02, water, sunlight and minerals from the soil to undergo PHOTOSYNTHESIS and make their own food! They then release 02 into the atmosphere and this is taken in by living things to undergo cellular respiration and C02 is then released back into the air. (People and trees are buddies!) Human activities also release C02 into the air- fossil fuels ( coal, gasoline, heating oil) when burned add CO2 into the atmosphere. FOSSIL FUELS are formed over millions of years by the decaying of dead organisms that fall to the bottom of the ocean. A buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere traps heat from the sun and causes global temperatures to rise.