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Subject Area(s): Earth Science

Associated Unit: none

Associated Lesson: none

Activity Title: Biogeochemical Cycles Game

Header

Grade Level 7-9

Activity Dependency: none

Time Required: 1 hour

Group Size: 5-6

Expendable Cost per Group: US $0.50

Summary: In this activity, students will learn how carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and nutrients are cycled through animals, plants, and the atmosphere.

Engineering Connection

Understanding chemical cycles is important for environmental engineering, where engineers use science to improve the environment and provide healthy water, air, and land for humans and for other organisms.

Engineering Category

Choose the category that best describes this activity’s amount/depth of engineering content: (1) relates science concept to engineering

Level of Inquiry

[For SEE-LA only; not part of TE submission].

Keywords

chemical cycle, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, nutrient

Educational Standards

• State science:

Ecology (grades 9-12)

6. Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects. As a basis for understanding this concept:

d. Students know how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle between abiotic resources and organic matter in the ecosystem and how oxygen cycles through photosynthesis and respiration.

Pre-Requisite Knowledge

Students should know what elements are and that carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are prevalent on earth and used by all living things. Students should be introduced to the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration and know what molecules are exchanged in each.

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Explain how carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and nutrients are cycled through animals, plants, and the atmosphere.

• Understand that atoms of elements are continually recycled through biotic and abiotic systems and not created nor destroyed.

• Understand that in order for an ecosystem to function, all of the elements needed by cells must continually be recycled through the ecosystem.

Materials List

Each group needs:

• 1 student handout (attached)

• 1 set of cards (attached)

• 1 die

• Pencils (one per person)

To share with the entire class:

•

Introduction / Motivation

Vocabulary / Definitions

|Word |Definition |

|biogeochemical cycle |any of the natural circulation pathways of the essential elements of living matter. |

|nutrient |any substance (such as a chemical element or inorganic compound) that can be taken in by a green plant and used in |

| |organic synthesis |

Procedure

Background

The teacher should be able to talk about how the most prominent elements on earth (carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen) are continually recycled through biotic and abiotic systems. He/she can give the example that the same oxygen atom in a molecule of water that you drink today was one breathed in by a dinosaur! Emphasis should be made on the fact that an ecosystem cannot function unless these elements are continually recycled because more of them are not being made. The role of nutrients for plant and animal nutrition can also be discussed.

Before the Activity

• Cut out 1 complete set of playing cards (several pages attached) per group.

• Make copies of the worksheet (one per student)

• Set out one die per group

• Make sure students have pencils

With the Students

1. Give students one set of cards and tell them to read the instructions on the worksheet (attached). Students should split up into pairs (2 will represent animals, 2 plants, and 2 atmosphere). Put up table tents (attached) in front of each student signifying their character.

2. The student pairs will take turns rolling the die and follow the instructions on the worksheet for the number that comes up. Both animals, both plants, and both atmosphere players will exchange cards at a time when instructed to. If cards are not available to give, then that player will still receive cards given to him or her. Each time a player receives a card, he/she will circle the picture of his/her character (plant, animal, or atmosphere)in each successive row.

3. After 20- 30 minutes, the teacher should stop the game and tell the students to go to the next section of the worksheet. Here, students will write down the element of each card they have, where it originally came from, and all of the places it travelled through (circled pictures on the card).

4. As a group, the students should draw a cycle for one of the elements (carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, or nutrients) on the diagram, with the arrows going in the correct direction.

5. As a group, students should then attempt to draw the biogeochemical cycles for all of the

chemicals in the game. The most correct representation in the class should win a prize (e.g., candy).

Attachments

Biogeochemical Cycle Game

Animal cards_biogeochemical game

Plant & Sky cards_biogeochemical game

Biogeochemical Cycle Game_Table Tents

Safety Issues

• There are no safety issues for this activity

Troubleshooting Tips

Investigating Questions

Assessment

Pre-Activity Assessment

Title: Preliminary Questions

The teacher can ask the students the following questions:

What elements do you think are most important elements for biological organisms? (Answer: oxygen, carbon, nitrogen). What happens to elements when they are used by an organism? For instance, where does oxygen go after it is breathed in, does it disappear? (Answer: no, oxygen is used in cellular respiration and ends up combining with hydrogen and producing water. The water may then be excreted from the body and enter the water cycle).

Activity Embedded Assessment

Title: Activity

The teacher should make sure that students are taking turns rolling the die and that each player is trading cards when the instructions say to. Also make sure that students are circling their representative picture every time they receive a card.

Post-Activity Assessment

Title: Group and Discussion Questions

The teacher should make sure that students are working as a group to figure out the geochemical cycles given the information they gathered from the game.

Activity Extensions

Activity Scaling

• For lower grades, this activity can be done as a class demonstration with volunteers.

• For upper grades, this activity can be made more difficult by adding more discussion questions about how elements are recycled. For instance, one can ask in what molecules they think carbon resides in for plants, animals, and the atmosphere.

Additional Multimedia Support

References



Leaf icons:





Animal icons:





Sun & clouds icon:

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Other

Owner

UCLA SEE-LA GK-12 Program, University of California, Los Angeles.

Contributors

Developer: Brittany Enzmann. This activity was developed as part of the UCLA Science and Engineering of the Environment of Los Angeles (SEE-LA GK-12) program and has been classroom tested in several 9th grade Integrated Coordinates Science classes at University High School in Los Angeles.

Copyright

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