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This content resource provides users with an overview of the nitrogen cycle. The article that accompanies this resource also highlights the impact of animal waste on the nitrogen cycle. It does a nice job of highlighting a real-life problem that many rural students can relate to. Along with this, a diagram is included which asks users to identify the nitrogen compounds and the nitrogen cycle processes shown. This could be used to help students identify and reinforce the various components of the nitrogen cycle. (author/cb)
This content resource provides users with an overview of the nitrogen cycle. The article that accompanies this resource also highlights the impact of animal waste on the nitrogen cycle. It does a nice job of highlighting a real-life problem that many rural students can relate to. Along with this, a diagram is included which asks users to identify the nitrogen compounds and the nitrogen cycle processes shown. This could be used to help students identify and reinforce the various components of the nitrogen cycle. (author/cb)
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| Science Academic Content Standards |
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| Earth and Space Sciences |  |
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| Benchmarks (6 - 8) |
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| C. | Describe interactions of matter and energy throughout the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere (e.g., water cycle, weather and pollution). |
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| Benchmarks (9 - 10) |
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| D. | Describe the finite nature of Earth's resources and those human activities that can conserve or deplete Earth's resources. |
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| Benchmarks (11 - 12) |
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| C. | Explain that humans are an integral part of the Earth's system and the choices humans make today impact natural systems in the future. |
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| Grade Level Indicators (Grade 7) |
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| 1. | Explain the biogeochemical cycles which move materials between the lithosphere (land), hydrosphere (water) and atmosphere (air). |
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| Grade Level Indicators (Grade 10) |
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| 5. | Explain how the acquisition and use of resources, urban growth and waste disposal can accelerate natural change and impact the quality of life. |
| 6. | Describe ways that human activity can alter biogeochemical cycles (e.g., carbon and nitrogen cycles) as well as food webs and energy pyramids (e.g., pest control, legume rotation crops vs. chemical fertilizers). |
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| Grade Level Indicators (Grade 11) |
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| 11. | Analyze how materials from human societies (e.g., radioactive waste, air pollution) affect both physical and chemical cycles of Earth. |
| 13. | Explain how human behavior affects the basic processes of natural ecosystems and the quality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. |
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| National Science Education Standards |
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| Earth and Space Science | |
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| Geochemical cycles (Grades 9 - 12) |
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| The earth is a system containing essentially a fixed amount of each stable chemical atom or element. Each element can exist in several different chemical reservoirs. Each element on earth moves among reservoirs in the solid earth, oceans, atmosphere, and organisms as part of geochemical cycles. |
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| Movement of matter between reservoirs is driven by the earth's internal and external sources of energy. These movements are often accompanied by a change in the physical and chemical properties of the matter. Carbon, for example, occurs in carbonate rocks such as limestone, in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas, in water as dissolved carbon dioxide, and in all organisms as complex molecules that control the chemistry of life. |
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| Science in Personal and Social Perspectives | |
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| Environmental quality (Grades 9 - 12) |
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| Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that affect humans. Those processes include maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere, generation of soils, control of the hydrologic cycle, disposal of wastes, and recycling of nutrients. Humans are changing many of these basic processes, and the changes may be detrimental to humans. |
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| Materials from human societies affect both physical and chemical cycles of the earth. |
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| Many factors influence environmental quality. Factors that students might investigate include population growth, resource use, population distribution, overconsumption, the capacity of technology to solve problems, poverty, the role of economic, political, and religious views, and different ways humans view the earth. |
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| Natural and human-induced hazards (Grades 9 - 12) |
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| Human activities can enhance potential for hazards. Acquisition of resources, urban growth, and waste disposal can accelerate rates of natural change. |
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| RESOURCE TYPE |
| Content Resource |
| STANDARDS ALIGNMENT |
| 6 - 12 |
| TOPICS |
Science --
Earth and Space Science;
Earth Systems;
Biogeochemical Cycles |
| KEYWORDS |
nitrogen cycle;
biogeochemical cycle;
eutrophication;
elements;
nutrients;
algal blooms;
chemical elements;
ammonification;
nitrification;
assimilation;
nitrogen fixation;
Denitrification |
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Author: Sarah Toas
Publisher: TERRAIN FOR SCHOOLS Ecology Center
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