NUTRIENTS CYCLE
Different climate's grow different plants and trees. Orange trees need a warm climate like Florida and Southern California. Oranges give good vitamin C and taste like, well...oranges.
Good nutrients give good nutrition. Nutrients have partners with body parts. For instance, bones and teeth match up with calcium. Muscle and nerve functions match up with magnesium and red blood cells match with iron. Funny how that works.
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Nature's Natives™
NUTRIENT CYCLE AT THE EVERGLADES
Name 3 things that would happen if...
nutrients like potassium, iron and calcium didn't cycle?
1.
2.
3.
The nutrient cycle is what happens when soil nutrients like calcium and potassium get a nudge to move. The nudge is from water. Water sweeps the calcium and potassium into plant roots. The plant likes the nutrient nourishment.
Of course the cycle isn't done yet. The calcium and potassium have to get back to the soil. Have no fear, bacteria are here! Bacteria are ready to finish the job. Bacteria break down dead things until the calcium and potassium have mozied back to the soil. Now the nourishing nutrients can start to move again.
We should thank our water. This odd element takes soil nutrients like calcium, iron and sulfur right into the inside of plants. It is very lucky for us that we can get the nutrients we need through the food chain.
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GOING GREEN
and NUTRIENTS
THE NUTRIENT CYCLE FOLLOWS NATURE'S RULES
FOLLOW NATURE'S NATIVES™
FOLLOWING NATURE'S RULES
Nature's Natives™ is a simplified representation of how nature works.
WHAT DOES GREEN MEAN?
EFFICIENCY, CONSERVATION & CONNECTIONS
WE GET TO...
TAKE A BREATH
EAT GOOD FOOD &
DRINK SOME WATER!
Efficiency
Nature moves atoms and molecules around efficiently. Nutrients hitch a ride with water to get into plants.
Conservation
Nutrients move in and out of living and non-living things (soil, plants and us). This way there are nutrients ready to make good soil and for our health.
Connections
It's a match! The nutrients that are in soil are the same ones we need to keep our insides (like bones, blood and brain) healthy.
NUTRIENT CYCLE AND WATER
NUTRIENT CYCLE AND CLIMATE
NUTRIENT CYCLE AND NUTRITION
VOCABULARY
Biogeochemical cycle- When molecules and elements move from nonliving parts of earth into living plants and animals and then back again into non-living parts.
Clay- A fine grained soil that is sticky when wet and hardens when heated.
Compounds- A substance consisting of two or more different elements in definite proportions that cannot be separated. Water (H20) is a compound because it is made up of two hydrogen atoms bonded to an oxygen atom.
Decomposers- Organisms (bacteria and fungi) that feed on and break down dead plants and animals into inorganic materials.
Decomposition- The breaking down of plants and animals when they die. This releases the stored nutrients from their bodies.
Dissolve- When solid matter melts into a liquid and becomes part of a solution.
Fertile soil- Soil that includes the remains of plants and animals (humus). Fertile soil is good for plants.
Food chain- The transfer of food energy from producers to consumers.
Food web- The transfer of energy through food chains in an ecosystem.
Mineral- A solid natural inorganic material.
Mixture- A combination of different things that do not have a chemical reaction. The parts of the mixture have a random distribution.
Nutrient- A source of nourishment from food.
Sandy soil- A loose and large-grained soil. There are few minerals in sandy soil.
Silt- A soil that has particles in-between the clay and sandy sizes.
Soil- Soil consists of tiny grains of rock and minerals.
Solution- A liquid mixture that has a solid (e.g., salt or sugar) dissolved in liquid (e.g., water). The minor component (solute) is evenly distributed in the liquid, the larger part (solvent).
Topsoil- The first 8 inches (20 cm) of fertile soil.
Water erosion- When water carries away soil and rocks.
Wind erosion- When wind carries away loose, fine-grained bits of soil and rock.
