Flow of Matter and ENERGY Photosynthesis-7TH GRADE

3.7.E. Flow of Matter and Energy  Skills and Objectives

1. Explain that the transfer and transformation of matter and energy links organisms to one another and to their physical setting.

a. Cite evidence from research and observations that food provides molecules that serve as fuel and building materials for all organisms.

b. Cite evidence from research and observations that organisms that eat plants or animals break down what they have consumed (food) to produce the materials and energy they need to survive or store for later use.

c. Investigate and describe the processes that enable plants to use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide and water.

d. Provide evidence from research to explain how plants can use the food they make immediately for fuel or stored for later use.

e. Ask and seek answers to questions about the fact that transfer of matter between organisms continues indefinitely because organisms are decomposed after death to return food materials to the environment.

f. Provide evidence that supports the premise “In the flow of matter system the total amount of matter remains constant even though its form and location change.”

• Carbon cycle

• Nitrogen cycle

• Food chains and food webs

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Photosynthesis is one of the most important natural processes that occur. It is also one of the hardest processes to understand. If you are not sure what exactly photosynthesis is do not be alarmed. Many people have an idea of what it is though they do not know what the process does specifically.

In its most simple definition photosynthesis is the chemical process which changes chemicals and nutrients into food. This definition sums up the entire process nicely. However, the actual reaction that occurs is much harder to explain.

Plants are not the only species that use photosynthesis. Algae and even various forms of bacteria use the process to convert chemical energy into food as well. Any species that uses photosynthesis to produce food is called a phototroph. The chemical energy is most often produced by sunlight. This is why sunlight is important to the survival of plant life.

Water is also necessary for photosynthesis to occur. You probably already know that when you water a plant the water is absorbed through its roots. The water travels through the roots up long tubes that lead from the roots to other parts of the plant. These tubes are called xylem.

Assignment=Please copy this graphic organizer and complete it in your journal from the reading above

Assignment=Explain in your journal what a "xylem." is.



As animals breathe in oxygen they release carbon dioxide into the air. The plants take in the carbon dioxide that has been exhaled. Essentially, they recycle the carbon dioxide, using it for the process of photosynthesis. A plant has tiny openings called stomata. Stomata are located in the leaves of the plant. Carbon dioxide is taken into the plant through these openings.

Assignment=Please copy this graphic organizer and complete it in your journal from the reading above

Assignment=Explain in your journal why  "stomata" are important to photosynthesis? 

Nitrogen cycle

ASSIGNMENT=Please watch this video and take 5-10 notes from it in your journal.

Earth System Carbon Cycle Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the Universe and is the building block for all living things. The conversion of carbon dioxide into living matter and then back is the main pathway of the carbon cycle. Plants draw about one quarter of the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and photosynthesize it into carbohydrates. Some of the carbohydrate is consumed by plant respiration and the rest is used to build plant tissue and growth. Animals consume the carbohydrates and return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere during respiration. Carbohydrates are oxidized and returned to the atmosphere by soil microorganisms decomposing dead animal and plant remains (soil respiration). Another quarter of atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by the world's oceans through direct air-water exchange. Surface water near the poles is cool and more soluble for carbon dioxide. The cool water sinks and couples to the ocean's thermohaline circulation which transports dense surface water toward the ocean's interior. Marine organisms form tissue containing reduced carbon, and some also form carbonate shells from carbon extracted from the air. Figure 2.33 The Carbon Cycle

Assignment=Please copy this graphic organizer and complete it in your journal from the reading above

 

Assignment=Please explain in your journal what soil respiration is?

 

Nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen comprises 78.08 % of the atmosphere making it the largest constituent of the gaseous envelope that surrounds the Earth. Nitrogen is important in the make up of organic molecules like proteins. Unfortunately, nitrogen is inaccessible to most living organisms. Nitrogen must be “fixed” by soil bacteria living in association with the roots of particular plant like legumes, clover, alfalfa, soybeans, peas, peanuts, and beans. Living on nodules around the roots of legumes, the bacteria chemically combine nitrogen in the air to form nitrates (NO₃) and ammonia (NH₃) making it available to plants. Organisms that feed on the plants ingest the nitrogen and release it in organic wastes. Denitrifying bacteria frees the nitrogen from the wastes returning it to the atmosphere.

Assignment=Please copy this graphic organizer and complete it in your journal from the reading above

Assignment= Explain in your journal how nitrogen is “fixed” by soil bacteria

Understanding the Food Chain/ Food Web

Food Chains/ Food Webs are what biologists describe as a relation between animals in their habitat and the foods they eat. A simple food chain would be the sun grows the grass, the deer eat the grass, and the wolves eat the deer. If something goes wrong with one animal then it will reflect on all the other animals. If we have a drought then no grass will grow, so the deer will starve and slowly start dying out. Then there is no food for the wolves and they start running down to dangerously low numbers. Then they are classified as endangered animals. Once an animal is endangered people start protecting them and laws are passed to protect the animals.  Pollution is a major cause of the endangerment of certain animals and a break in the food chain or food web.Pollution involves the inappropriate discharge of waste materials into the soil, water or atmosphere. One example is people using their cars too much and polluting the air.
 

Food Web

Food Chain

Assignment=Please copy this graphic organizer and complete it in your journal from the reading above

ASSIGNMENT=Please watch this video and take 5-15 notes from it in your journal.

Answer these questions from the short videos



1)  Explain  @ how a food chain starts.
2.Explain what a "primary consumer" is.
3. Explain what a "predator" is.
4. Explain what a "decomposer" is.
5. Explain what this statement means ," no beings live alone".
Post Test 

. What is photosynthesis?

2. What is cellular respiration?

3. What makes the chloroplast green? What role does chlorophyll play in photosynthesis?

4. What are the raw materials needed for photosynthesis? What are the products?

5. How do plants get energy? How do animals get energy?

6. How are breathing and cellular respiration different?

7. Why is respiration important for a cell?

8. Explain the relationship between photosynthesis and respiration.

9. What is the role of consumers and producers in the carbon-oxygen  cycles?

10. How does the nitrogen cycle differ from carbon-oxygen cycle?

11.  What dos a decomposer do?

12. What is food chain? What is food web? 












Must Know Ideas

1. Photosynthesis comes from the root words photo, which means “light” and synthesis which means “putting together”.  Photosynthesis means using light to make food.

2.  Plants make their own food through photosynthesis.

3.  Animals obtain food by eating other organisms.

4.  Food provides molecules that serve as fuel and building materials for all organisms.

5.  Organisms that eat plants or animals break down what they have consumed (food) to produce the materials and energy they need to survive or store for later use.

6. During photosynthesis, plants use energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and sugars/glucose.

7.  Chlorophyll is the green pigment found in chloroplasts that captures energy from the sun for photosynthesis.

8. Plants can use the food they make immediately for fuel or stored for later use.

Food Chain: Matching

Use the following words:Name: _______________________

_____	Carnivore	1)Organisms that feed off of plants
_____	Herbivore	2)Order in which energy passes from one living thing to another
_____	Producer	3)Created when food chains overlap
_____	Food Chain	4)Living organism that is capable of using energy from the sun
_____	Food web	5)Organisms that eat meat
_____	Omnivore	6)Organisms that eat both plants and animals Print Food Chains And Food Webs: Matching Use the following words:Name: _______________________ _____ chlorophyll 1) a living thing that can use sunlight to make sugars _____ carbon dioxide 2)are herbivores because they eat plants _____ photosynthesis 3)a consumer that eats only producers or plants _____ producer 4)a consumer that eats producers and other consumers or plants and meat _____ consumer 5) a consumer that eats only other consumers or meat _____ herbivores 6)the way in which green plants trap the sun's energy and use it to change carbon dioxide into water and sugar _____ carnivore 7)are carnivores because they eat meat _____ omnivore 8) a gas in the air _____ racoons 9)a green material in plants that traps energy from sunlight and gives plants a green color _____ wolves 10)a living thing that depends on producers for food _____ moose and cows 11)are omnivores because they eat both meat and

What is the Carbon Cycle?

The Carbon Cycle is a complex series of processes through which all of the carbon atoms in existence rotate. The same carbon atoms in your body today have been used in countless other molecules since time began. The wood burned just a few decades ago could have produced carbon dioxide which through photosynthesis became part of a plant. When you eat that plant, the same carbon from the wood which was burnt can become part of you. The carbon cycle is the great natural recycler of carbon atoms. Unfortunately, the extent of its importance is rarely stressed enough. Without the proper functioning of the carbon cycle, every aspect of life could be changed dramatically.
We believe that it's vital to understand how the carbon cycle works in order to see the danger of it not working. Therefore, let's look at a sample carbon cycle and explore how carbon atoms move through our natural world. Plants, animals, and soil interact to make up the basic cycles of nature. In the carbon cycle, plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it, combined with water they get from the soil, to make the substances they need for growth. The process of photosynthesis incorporates the carbon atoms from carbon dioxide into sugars. Animals, such as the rabbit pictured here, eat the plants and use the carbon to build their own tissues. Other animals, such as the fox, eat the rabbit and then use the carbon for their own needs. These animals return carbon dioxide into the air when they breathe, and when they die, since the carbon is returned to the soil during decomposition. The carbon atoms in soil may then be used in a new plant or small microorganisms. Ultimately, the same carbon atom can move through many organisms and even end in the same place where it began. Herein lies the fascination of the carbon cycle; the same atoms can be recycled for millennia!

Assignment=Please copy this graphic organizer and complete it in your journal from the reading above

Assignment= Please click this sit, play the carbon cycle game and . . . 1) Explain in your journal what you did and what happened   2)  Then explain the reasons why you think IT happened in your journal.

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/carbon_cycle.html

ASSIGNMENT=Please watch this video and take 5-10 notes from it in your journal.