Cycles of

Matter
Chapter 2
 You can explain water’s primary role in the
biogeochemical cycles, considering its chemical
and physical properties; i.e., universal solvent,
hydrogen bonding.

Outcomes
Section 2.1
 Water
Section 2.1
Properties of
water:

 Amoeba Sisters video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jwAGWk
y98c
 Connections to the
Biosphere

 Hydrosphere is one of 3 parts that make up the biosphere

 Biotic or abiotic?
 How old is water?
 What does a finite supply mean?
 How is it involved with Photosynthesis/Cellular Respiration?
 States of Matter

 97% of water in the biosphere is in the liquid state

 What is remaining?
 High boiling point and melting point
 Water vapour is a greenhouse gas (largest contributor –
natural).
 How is heat transferred?
Liquid – ocean currents
Gas – convection currents
 Universal Solvent

 What is a solvent?
 Dissolved a variety of substances
 Water can carry dissolved minerals/nutrients both beneficial and
toxic
 Water molecules are polar (p.35) allowing for hydrogen bonds
between water molecules
 A hydrogen bond is weak and can break (phase change)
 water a high boiling point and a high melting point compared to
other substances without hydrogen bonds.
 Density

 Water is most dense

(heaviest) at 4 degrees
Celsius allowing for
cycling of matter in
lakes
 Ice is less dense than
liquid water
 Icebergs
 Ice fishing
 Adhesion and
Cohesion

 Cohesion – attraction of water

molecules to each other due to
hydrogen bonding
 Surface tension – water striders,
fly in a pool, full glass of water.
 Adhesion – attraction of water
molecules to molecules of other
substances
 Xylem –
 Meniscus -
 Heat Capacity

 Energy transfer and heat capacity

(p. 37)
 Is a measure of the amount of
_____
 A large portion of living things -
made up of water.
Give 2 examples
 Why is it so important to
maintain body/ air/ water body
temperature when it is abiotic?
 Alberta Connection

 Why is using fresh water in the petroleum

industry so controversial?
 http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=2323107920

 Fresh water is used to increase pressure in an oil well to

get all the oil out of that well
 Once water is put into the well it is removed from the
hydrological cycle
 Oilsands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx1jOD-V8mc#t=86
 In-Situ Steam Injection:
 http://www.capp.ca/canadaIndustry/oilSands/Dialogue-Resources/oil-sands-v
ideos/Pages/Video-Oil-Sands-in-situ.aspx
 http://www.cnrl.com/operations/north-america/north-american-crude-oil-and
-ngls/thermal-insitu-oilsands/

 Is this sustainable? Are we being good stewards?

 How could we be better stewards of this precious abiotic
factor?
 Climate change?
 Population growth?
The Nature of Things: Save my Lake

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eaUihTvwyI
 WB pages 10-11 complete while watching
To Do:
Read: Pages 35 - 40

Questions, page 40: 2, 4 – 7,

9
Biogeochemic
al Cycles

2.2
Outcomes:

 You can explain and summarize the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, oxygen,
nitrogen and phosphorus and relate this to general reuse of all matter in the biosphere
 Energy Flows, Matter is Recycled

 Energy is constantly flowing out of the system it must be

constantly replenished in the form of energy from the sun.

 Matter, in the form of elements and molecules, is recycled

 Molecules (like water), also move through the trophic levels but
some is lost to respiration and excretion eventually
accumulating.
Cycles we will study

 Notable cycles (because they are essential non-living

components of life) include:
 water
 carbon
 oxygen
 nitrogen
 Phosphorus
 Amoeba Sisters video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHqEthRCqQ4
 Biogeochemical Cycle Stations

1. Move into your assigned groups.

2. Look at the cycle you are about to create and find that cycle in
your handout.
3. Look at the pile of words/images and discuss as a group the
parts of the cycle.
4. See what makes sense and play around with it until it does.
5. Complete the associated questions.
6. Shuffle the words/images and place them in a pile.
 The Water Cycle

 Water is essential to all living things.

 The sun contributes to the water cycle because the
sun’s heat cause water to evaporate to form clouds.
 Transpiration is a process in which water vapour is lost
from plants through the leaves
The Carbon Cycle

 The carbon cycle begins with removing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere
 This is done by green plants in a process of photosynthesis
 These chemical equations are opposite of each other
 Living organism return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in
cellular respiration
 Carbon sinks are systems that remove more carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere then they give off.
Carbon Cycle

 Rapid cycling is driven mainly by

photosynthesis and subsequent
particulate organic matter
sedimentation through the biological
pump, whereas the slow cycle is
mediated by the microbial carbon
pump, prolonging the residence time
of carbon in the ocean
Carbon Source

 Human activity
 Agriculture
 Burning of fossil fuels like gas
 Coal and oil
 Deforestations
 Volcanic eruptions
Carbon Sinks

The ocean
The soil
The forest
The Oxygen Cycle

 The oxygen and carbon cycle have lots in common:

Photosynthesis, respiration, carbon sinks, decomposition
 Oxygen makes up about 21% of our atmosphere
 Oxygen cycle include all oxygen used for respiration and
combustion
 It is given off by all photosynthetic plants and algae
 Production of ozone is also part of the oxygen cycle
 The layer has deteriorated due to use of CFC’s
The Nitrogen Cycle

 Nitrogen is an essential cycle that we rely on for biological

processes
 Nitrogen makes up about 78% of our atmosphere but it is not
usable in its molecular form
 N2 is a gas that is not easily broken down in order for us to use it
 Plants can only use nitrogen in the form of ammonia, nitrates or
nitrites
 Nitrogen fixation is a process of converting
atmospheric nitrogen to ammonium
 Nitrifying bacteria is a type of soil bacteria
that converts natural nitrogen to ammonia:
this is called ammonification
 Nitrification is when nitrifying bacteria
converts ammonia into nitrates and nitrites
 Denitrifying bacteria is a type of soil bacteria
that converts nitrates to atmospheric nitrogen;
this is called denitrification
Phosphorou
s Cycle
Refer to “save my lake” video
Biogeochemical Cycle Terms:

 Eutrophication:
 Slow cycling:
 Rapid cycling:
 Carbon sink:
 Nitrogen Fixation:
 Ammonification:
 Denitrification:
 What do plants use nitrogen for?
 phosphorus?
 Potassium?
Fertilizer: N – P - K
 Bacteria: are you anti?

 We have studied bacteria at least twice so far:

 Transfers energy: As a producer

 Cycles matter: As part of one of the

biogeochemical cycles

 What is Strep throat?

Antibiotics penicillin (mold) that can be found
growing on bread, citrus, etc.
Review 2.2

 Pages 42-52
 Questions on page 52
 Balance of Matter &
Energy Exchange
Section 2.3
Outcomes:

 Students will explain the balance of energy and matter exchange in the biosphere, as
an open system, and explain how this maintains equilibrium.
Productivity

 The rate the producers of an ecosystem capture and store energy

over a measured amount of time (rate of producing new biomass).
 Can vary by amount and type depending on factors such as:
 # of producers
 Amount of light
 Available heat
 Precipitation
 Available nutrients
Productivity:
Ocean

 Where would the most

productive parts of the
ocean be both globally and
depth?
 Nutrients & sunlight are
the 2 main factors
 Comparing ecosystems

 Tropical rainforest vs.

desert
 Tundra vs. grassland
Homeostasis

 Maintaining a balance with

changing circumstances
 Think of the processes that
use energy.
 AKA: equilibrium
Gaia Hypothesis

 James Lovelock – 1979

 Earth, or Gaia, is the largest, most ancient and
most complex living thing
 Earth is like a living body – a single self-
regulating system
 Constant interactions but are in
balance/homeostasis
 A change in one component changes the others
Dynamic equilibrium:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44yiTg7cOVI
 Stromatolites
 A window into past atmosphere
compositions
 Oxygen was not always available
 Cyanobacteria produced oxygen
via photosynthesis, thus allowing
for an explosion of life
 Light/depth connection?
 Video: History Channel – How the
Earth was made @ 36 minutes
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yoaj
DFlhCE
 Making the Atmosphere Breathable

 Alberta is an ancient coast, and Cameron Falls

(Waterton National Park) has its oldest sedimentary
rock outcrop, formed 1.5 bya
 Cameron Falls has trace fossils called stromatolites
– layered structures of cyanobacteria that have been
petrified into calcium carbonate
 Cyanobacteria contain chlorophyll and therefore
photosynthetic organisms that produce oxygen
 They are the main form of early life and what is
thought to be responsible for our oxygen-rich
atmosphere.
 Settlements on Mars?
 Homeostasis experiment: Biosphere 2, 1991
 Arizona
 Successful for several months… then?

 NASA: Advanced Life Support program

 Plants grown in space for food and oxygen supply

 Movie: The Martian

Sustainability & Human awareness

 Everything is connected
 Be aware of the matter and energy we use
 Riding the c-train vs. driving and how that relates to the
carbon/oxygen cycles
 Sewage
 Industry- phytoremediation
 Agriculture
Review

 Pages 53-61
 Questions page 61