Carbon Cycle

Organisms are built out of organic molecules; carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids and lipids. Those molecules in turn are built primarily out of carbon.  So all organisms need a source of carbon and can be divided into two groups:

• Producers:
  • can capture carbon from CO2 and use photosynthesis to make glucose. They can then make the organic molecules they need from glucose with the addition of some other elements like nitrogen and phosphorus. 
• Consumers:
  • need to eat another organism. They use the organic molecules that make up the cells and tissues of the other organism as their source of carbon. 
  • Consumers can be broken up into 3 main categories
    • Herbivores- that eat producers
    • Carnivores - that eat other consumers
    • Decomposers- that eat the dead, decaying and waste products of all organisms,

Carbon Cycle 

In this video, I show you how carbon is cycled through an ecosystem, from CO2 through producers, consumers, decomposers and back to the atmosphere.

1. 1. 1. You should fill in this handout Download ou should fill in this handout as you watch the video
      2. Take a photo and upload it to this assignment
      3. Bring a copy with you to class 

Drawing from Video

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