Lab 1

1.) Prt 1. A class conducted online instead of in a classroom decreases carbon contribution to the carbon cycle because the students do not have to commute to a class room. The student is not burning fossil fuels (oil) to get to class and so there is no CO2 emission from the cars. Also, the energy used to run the computer is about the same as if the students were to meet in a class.

Prt 2. I was shocked to learn about my carbon foot print. I know that I do contribute to burning fossil fuels because I drive to work but I don’t drive anywhere else much. Also, I recycle and reuse just about everything I can. The environment is something I care a great deal about. I thought I was doing well but this quiz showed me I could do more! I am proud that I was significantly below the national average and that made me happy to know that at least I was doing something for the good of the planet.

2.) In the tropical rainforest the hydrologic cycle is used to keep the forest lush and thriving. The rain soaks the ground and provides the plants with the water they need to grow, the plants soak up the water and release the water vapors through transpiration and the water evaporates and causes the rain. During the carbon cycle, carbon is in the air and water through photosynthesis the plants absorb the carbon. During the nitrogen cycle plants cannot absorb nitrogen in gas form so it goes through nitrogen fixation and turns into ammonium, a nutrient plants can absorb, and is then absorbed into the plants. The phosphorus cycle is the cycle with which all the plants take up phosphate from the ground and as with carbon and nitrogen, are fed to the animal population.

3.)

Action | Increase Nitrogen | Decrease Nitrogen |

Farming corn | Increases (Boorse, 70) | |

Burning Fossil fuels | Increases (Bernhard, 2012) | |

Wind Farming | | Decreases |

Driving | Increases | |

Bernhard, A. (2012). The nitrogen cycle: Processes, players, and human impact. Nature Education...