What is complex life?
macro-organisms
Why is the nitrogen cycle so important to complex life?
Because macro-organisms (complex life) cannot survive without microbes.
How many times of bacteria are involved in the nitrogen cycle?
3
The type of bacteria that breaks down dead matter-releasing nitrates into the soil.
decomposing
The type of bacteria that converts N 2 to NO 3
nitrogen fixing
The type of bacteria that changes NO 3 back to N 2
denitrifying
True or false? Plants and animals can N 2 into a form that can be used by their cells.
False
What are legumes?
plants with pods
Three examples of legumes
soybeans, alfalfa, and clover
True or False? Commercial fertilizer can provide the nitrogen plants need to grow.
True
True or False? Commercial fertilizer is made from petroleum.
True
a natural process of water molecules recycling from the land, to the air, and back to the land
water cycle or hydrologic cycle
What warms water so that it is evaporated?
the sun
What forms can water vapor condense in?
fog, mist, or clouds
What does precipitation always start out as?
frozen water
Does all water reach the Earth as precipitation?
No, some of it will evaporate on its way from the sky to the land
What do animals respire when they breathe?
water vapor
One type of igneous rock?
granite
Two types of sedimentary rocks?
sandstone and limestone
Two types of metamorphic rocks?
marble and slate
When igneous rock is weathered and eroded it becomes ____________
sediments
When sediments are deposited and lithification occurs they become ___________ _______
sedimentary rocks
When there is heat pressure and stress applied to a sedimentary rock it becomes a _________ ______.
metamorphic rock
When metamorphic rocks are melted they become ___________
magma
When there is a volcanic eruption what does the magma become?
igneous rock
Do rocks have to go in the order igneous to sedimentary to metamorphic?
no
What percentage of the atmosphere is nitrogen?
78%
___ can not be used by plants and animals.
N 2
How many types of bacteria are involved in the nitrogen cycle?
3
___________ is essential for amino acids, which make proteins.
nitrogen
Which type of nitrogen makes up 78 percent of the atmosphere?
N 2
Which type of nitrogen is inert?
N 2
Which type of nitrogen can plants and animals not use?
N 2
What can convert a small amount of N 2 to NO 3 but not enough for plant growth?
lightning
What do nitrogen fixing bacteria do?
Change N 2 to NO 3 (the form that can plants and animals can use)
What are commercial fertilizers made of?
petroleum
the process of water being evaporated from the ground to the atmosphere where it becomes clouds, fog, or mist
evaporation
the process of water filling the spaces between individual soil particles
infiltration
Water that is neither absorbed nor evaporated
run off
The slow movement of water through soil
seepage
the process of a plant giving off water
transpiration
The process of water being absorbed into a plant’s roots
absorption
After water is evaporated it becomes ____________
condensation
Any form of water that falls to the Earth’s surface
precipitation
Chemical formula for water
H 2 O
Are new water molecules being made?
no
The sun powers the water cycle.
true
Another name for the water cycle
the hydrologic cycle
a continuous process where rocks are created, changed from one form to another, destroyed, and then formed again
rock cycle
largest cycle on earth
rock cycle
what is lithification?
hardened and to become rock
does the rock cycle make earth dynamic?
yes
what powers the rock cycle
Earth’s core