Biogeochemical Cycles - Project Blog (1/22-1/26)

This is my carbon cycle

Summary:

Carbon is a very important element that is in the periodic table. Carbon is in a lot of places that you may be familiar with. The carbon cycle is one of the most important biogeochemical cycles as it is part of the soil, surface water, marine life, the atmosphere, deep ocean, land plants, and living things. Without carbon, there would be no life.

Carbon moves from the atmosphere to various plants through a process called photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is one of the items that plants need to create sugars, or glucose through a process called photosynthesis. Carbon is a very important material for photosynthesis, which helps provide food for all living things on Earth. In the food chain, plants are the producers. When animals eat plants to survive, the carbon travels from the plant to the animal. Animals that eat other animals (secondary producers) also get this carbon when they eat other animals. Organic carbon is carbon that is found in something living.

When plants and animals decay, the carbon moves to the ground. This process is called decomposition. This carbon can become fossil fuels in thousands and thousands of years. Carbon can also move from biotic (or living) things into the atmosphere. When humans exhale, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through respiration. When fuels are burned, carbon moves from fossil fuels into the atmosphere when they are burned by humans in factories, vehicles, and more. Carbon dioxide is released from these emissions and enters the atmosphere. The final way that carbon moves are from the atmosphere to the various bodies of water when the oceans soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Backward-Looking:

What process did you go through to produce this piece?

To produce, this piece, there was a long process we had to go through. First, we had to chose our cycle and get into our groups and discuss in what ways our cartoons will be similar. Then, we had to research more about our cycle and make sure we knew as much as we could about it before we started our cartoons. After we were familiar with our cycle, we started creating a storyline that would be behind our cartoon. We worked with our group to make sure that we all had the same ideas and then we got to work on our cartoons. First, we drew out the layout and the images in pencil and went over it with color. Once we were done with our cartoons, we had to cut out each of the boxes and give them a backing which we put on our poster.

Inward-Looking:

How do you feel about this piece of work? What parts of it do you particularly like? Dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about this piece or work?

I feel pretty good about this piece of work. I liked how our group had a storyline behind our cartoons and how we had to work together to complete the project. Some of the people in our group were not on task, but in the end, we managed to finish the project with our best effort. I also enjoy how we got to be creative with our cartoons and storyline, and at the same time teach the reader about our cycle. Overall, this was a very fun project which also allowed us to learn more about various biogeochemical cycles.

Outward-Looking:

Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

Our work was different than the way that other groups did theirs because we all had a different theme and topic. We also had a different process to complete this project. Our work was similar to other groups because there were many other people doing the same cycle, and many of us completed our poster in a similar way. The one thing that was unique to each person was that we all had a different story and theme, and we could be creative with our own cartoon.

Forward-Looking

What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

If I had a chance to do this piece over again, I would manage my time better because our group was rushing at the end of the period to get the poster done. Most of our group's cartoons had the same theme, but some of the people in our group decided to have a different theme, so not all of our cartoons were matching. One other thing I would change if I had a chance to do this piece over again would be that I would decorate our poster more and make sure that we manage the space on the poster because we ended up with a lot of leftover space.