Last week we worked on the carbon cycle - this week we're learning about the nitrogen cycle. Both carbon and nitrogen are important for living tissues. Carbon is the backbone for most of the chemicals in the body (DNA, carbohydrates, lipids, etc.). Nitrogen is necessary for DNA and proteins. So learning how they cycle through Earth's systems and how they become available for our bodies is important. These 2 cycles are also important because they both are involved in making greenhouse gases (and could influence the climate... depending on how you look at the data).
We've been looking at evidence for human influences on the atmosphere and I'm proud of how the students have been able to look at the issues and think critically about how we may (or may not) be influencing the Earth. I have given them an extra credit opportunity to look at some of the current issues about global warming (looking up current events is also a geography requirement for most of them, so this should kill 2 birds with one stone).
We'll be doing a lot of review, and hopefully a lab near the end of the week (pending lab supplies). We'll be taking a quiz on the carbon and nitrogen cycles early next week.
Thanks for all your support!
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