Science Unit 3

Question 1

UNIT 3 LESSON 1 PAGE 1

Where is Carbon found?

Answer 1

The element carbon is found in living things and in all parts of Earth’s systems.

Question 2

How is Carbon found in plants?

Answer 2

Carbon combines with oxygen in the form of carbon dioxide and is taken in by plants to form compounds that make their structure. The trunk of a tree is made mostly of carbon taken from the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Question 3

How is Carbon found in humans?

Answer 3

When people eat plants, or eat animals that have eaten plants, the carbon is rearranged to form molecules such as proteins and DNA. Approximately 18 percent of the human body is carbon.

Question 4

Does the total amount of carbon ever change?

Answer 4

As carbon moves between Earth’s systems, the total amount never changes.

Question 5

Where else can Carbon be found?

Answer 5

Carbon is also dissolved in the oceans and in the geosphere in rocks, such as limestone and coal.

Question 7

What percentage of our body is carbon?

Answer 7

18%

Question 8

What percentage of carbon dioxide is in our atmosphere?

Answer 8

0.04%

Question 9

What percentage of our atmosphere is nitrogen?

Answer 9

78%

Question 10

What percentage of our atmosphere is oxygen?

Answer 10

21%

Question 11

How long can it take for carbon to cycle from living organisms to the geosphere?

Answer 11

Millions of years

Question 12

How are humans tipping the natural carbon balance?

Answer 12

Human activity of extracting and burning fossil fuels has tipped the balance of the carbon cycle.

Question 13

How is the Carbon cycle associated with plants?

Answer 13

Plants take in enegery coming in from the sun and use that energy to take that molecular carbon dioxide out of the air and fixing the carbon from it to form these different molecules in the plant, that help the plant, that give the plant structure, that give the plant energy. For example an animal or human might want to eat that plant. For example a human might want toeat it for a salad this gives my body the energy to live and grow. And as I, as I metabolize that glucose…So, for example glucose is one of the molecules that that plant can form by taking that carbon out of the air…And then I might metabolize that glucose from that plant I just ate, and as I do that, I will release carbon dioxide. So, I will release the C O 2 back in the air. This forms a cycle.

Question 14

How is the Carbon cycle assocated with the ocean?

Answer 14

Co2 could be abosorbed by the ocean, Co2 sould form into calcicum carbonate and that calcium carbonate is a key constituent in things like seashells. And over time, as the seashells break down, and they get ground up, and they get impacted with pressure, they can form, they can form limestone.

Question 15

What happens when people breathe?

Answer 15

When people breathe in and out, they cycle carbon from their bodies to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide very quickly.

Question 16

How does carbon enter the atmosphere?

Answer 16

Carbon enters the atmosphere through decay of dead organisms, fires, respiration, and burning of fossil fuels, such as gasoline,coal, and methane. Fossil fuels store vast amounts of carbon, and when they are burned, this carbon is released into the atmosphere.

Question 17

Where does the carbon in the atmosphere go?

Answer 17

Carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere is in equilibrium with dissolved carbon dioxide in the ocean, so some of it enters the ocean and becomes incorporated into organisms there. Matter from these organisms can settle on the ocean floor and become rock. Green plants also take in carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.

Question 18

How are humans tipping the natural balance?

Answer 18

Human activity of extracting and burning fossil fuels has tipped the balance of the carbon cycle.

Question 19

What is the definition of respiration?

Answer 19

the process by which organisms obtain energy by taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide

Question 20

What is the definition of equilibrium?

Answer 20

a state of balance between opposing processes

Question 21

What is the chemical backbone of all life on earth?

Answer 21

Carbon

Question 22

What does carbon help form?

Answer 22

It helps form key elements like protein and DNA

Question 23

What form is carbon found in the atmosphere?

Answer 23

It is found in the form of carbon dioxide/Co2

Question 24

Where are the places I can find carbon?

Answer 24

Most carbon is stored in rocks and sediments, while the rest is stored in the ocean, atmosphere, and living organisms. These are the reservoirs or sinks through which carbon cycles. The ocean is a giant carbon sink that absorbs carbon. Marine organisms from marsh plants to fish, from seaweed to birds, also produce carbon through living and dying.

Question 25

How does the ocean react to Carbon?

Answer 25

The carbon exchange is the trade of carbon between the oceans and the atmosphere. Oceans dissolve carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Marine plants use it for photosynthesis and release some back into the atmosphere through respiration. Marine animals use carbon in the ocean to make calcium carbonate—a component of shells and skeletons.

Question 26

How do plants and animals react to carbon?

Answer 26

Plants use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. They also release a little carbon dioxide when they respire. Animals get their carbon from the vegetation or other animals they eat. They also release carbon dioxide when they respire. When plants are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the air.

Question 27

How does soil and organic matter react to carbon?

Answer 27

When plants and animals die, their carbon-rich remains decay and they relase co2. Decomposers release carbon dioxide into the air as they respire.

Question 28

How is carbon removed from the atmosphere?

Answer 28

Carbon dioxide is dissolved into oceans and Plants use carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.

Question 29

Ireland is not a hot, tropical country. In fact, it is located at about the same latitude as Canada’s frigid province of Newfoundland. Still, warm-climate plants that would never survive in Newfoundland flourish in Ireland. Why?

Answer 29

The answer is a warm-water current, the Gulf Stream. Ireland is about 40ºF warmer than Newfoundland in winter because the Gulf Stream current is near its western coast. Westerly winds passing over the current hit Ireland, allowing some warm-climate plants to flourish.

Question 30

How do greenhouse gases affect the enviroment?

Answer 30

greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere. As the concentration of carbon dioxide increases, Earth’s atmosphere retains more heat and less escapes into space. Earth’s average temperature rises.

Question 31

How much has Earth’s average temperature risen since 1880

Answer 31

1.11°C (2°F)

Question 33

How much has Earth's avergae temperature risen since 1880?

Answer 33

1.11°C (2°F)

Question 34

Affects of global warming to the oceans

Answer 34

Since 1955, the oceans have absorbed and stored about 90 percent of that excess heat, with striking results. There has been a rise in sea level due to thermal expansion of the ocean. Land-based glaciers and ice sheets are also melting at an accelerated rate, pouring meltwater into the oceans. The effects of rising sea levels include more coastal flooding and the slow submerging of low-lying islands.

Question 35

How much Co2 does the ocean absorb?

Answer 35

Earth’s oceans absorb about one-fourth of the carbon dioxide human activities release into the atmosphere each year. The ocean’s ability to absorb CO2 moderates the effects of climate change. It removes CO2 that would otherwise add to global warming.

Question 36

What are the side afffects of the ocean absorbing Co2

Answer 36

the excess carbon is slowly changing the chemistry of ocean water. The ocean is becoming more acidic. The process is known as ocean acidification. The increasing acidity of ocean water threatens the survival of some marine species such as corals. They have difficulty making shells in the increasingly acidic water. Scientists have also discovered that the ocean’s ability to absorb CO2 decreases with rising temperatures. That could lead to much higher CO2 levels in the atmosphere, and accelerated warming.

Question 37

What are surface currents?

Answer 37

—rivers of water that move within the ocean along fixed course

Question 38

What are gyres?

Answer 38

a system of rotating ocean currents