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RESOURCES
This Khan Academy website defines an ecosystem and what it includes. It discusses what ecosystems are like and points out that within a biome there can be great diversity. The website discusses energy and matter in ecosystems as well as the resistance and resilience of ecosystems.
This MonkeySee video discusses what an ecosystem is and where the energy for an ecosystem comes from.
The Sciencing website defines and gives examples of both biotic and abiotic factors.
The video explains the difference between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem. The video shows different interactions in an ecosystem between biotic and abiotic factors.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research website shows the carbon cycle in a graphic and explains the cycle. It also explains how carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and will trap heat in the atmosphere.
This Crash Course Chemistry video explains the carbon cycle and how it repeats. It goes further and talks about carbon fixation and cellular respiration.
Users watch a video and answer questions about the video. There is also a karaoke song.
The Earth Eclipse website explains the oxygen cycle and how it is related to the carbon cycle. It explains where on Earth oxygen can be found, not just in the air, and how different processes release oxygen for use by organisms on Earth.
This MooMoo Math and Science video explains how oxygen in the atmosphere is used and replaced.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research website shows a graphic of the nitrogen cycle and explains the cycle. It also explains what happens when there is a build up of nitrogen in lakes and rivers.
This Khan Academy video takes a look at atmospheric nitrogen (N2) and how it is turned into a usable form for plants to use by bacteria. It discusses how many different organisms need nitrogen, and not just plants. The video discusses how higher organisms use nitrogen and then how nitrogen is released when an organism dies and can be used by plants or into the atmospheric nitrogen.
Users watch a video and answer questions about the video.
The Encyclopedia Britannica website explains nitrogen fixation. It talks about the process developed to fix atmospheric nitrogen and how it has changed over time.
This Wisceduction Network video explains nitrogen fixation through the story of George Washington Carver helping southern farmers learn to rotate crops in order to improve soil quality.
The Boundless.com website shows the sulfur cycle and explains where the sulfur comes from for the cycle. It also explains what impact humans have had on the sulfur cycle.
This video discusses how sulfur is released into the atmosphere. It explains how sulfur is replaced into the ground and why biological organisms need sulfur.
The Science Learning Hub website explains why phosphorus is important to living things. It explains the phosphorus cycle and where phosphate comes from. The website explains that phosphorus is not for plants to use readily in the soil as it is locked up in sediments and rocks and that farmers add phosphorus to the soil through fertilizers.
This Beverly Biology video starts by explaining why phosphorus is important and needed. It explains where phosphorus comes from and how it is released into the soil. The video also explains how phosphorus from fertilizers can end up in water and cause algal blooms and possible dead zones. The video ends with a practice quiz about the phosphorus cycle.