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9th grade How living things move carbon worksheet

6 printable versionsBuilding Confidence10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

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How living things move carbon

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

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Circle the best answer.

  1. Bo reads the arrow from the grass back to the air. It carries carbon dioxide, but its label is blank. Which process belongs on it?

    • No process, since plants do not release carbon dioxide
    • Decomposition, which gives carbon dioxide back
    • Photosynthesis, which gives carbon dioxide back
    • Cellular respiration, which gives carbon dioxide back
  2. Esme reads the arrow from the decomposers to the air. It carries carbon dioxide, and its label is blank. Which process belongs on it?

    • Dissolving, which moves carbon dioxide into the ocean
    • Decomposition, which returns carbon dioxide to the air
    • Photosynthesis, which returns carbon dioxide to the air
    • Destruction, which makes the carbon in remains vanish
  3. Jun reads a meadow diagram. Box W supplies the carbon dioxide that the grass takes in and receives what the grass gives back. Which store is box W?

    • The ocean
    • The atmosphere
    • A rock layer
    • The soil
  4. Kira reads the arrows between the air and box X. Carbon dioxide gas dissolves into box X and leaves it again. Which store is box X?

    • A rock layer
    • No store, since carbon dioxide cannot move into water
    • The ocean
    • The soil
  5. Flow diagram of the carbon cycle (model, not to scale), Earth as a whole. Luz reads a carbon store diagram. Box W holds most of Earth’s carbon. Which store is box W?

    • Plants and algae
    • The atmosphere
    • Rock layers
    • The soil
  6. Milo reads a glossary entry. Which meaning fits the term carbon reservoir?

    • A kind of rock that has no way to give its carbon back
    • A process that takes carbon dioxide from the air into a leaf
    • An organism, such as a fungus, that breaks down old remains
    • A store that holds carbon for a time, such as the air or the ocean
  7. Pia reads a glossary entry. Which meaning fits the term carbon cycle?

    • The movement of carbon among air, water, rock and living things
    • The path of carbon until decomposers destroy it for good
    • The making of new carbon atoms by green plants and algae
    • The flow of energy from the Sun through food to heat
  8. Ren sees that grass takes in carbon dioxide in light. At night the grass cells still use sugar for energy. Which gas do they give off?

    • Oxygen, from photosynthesis at night
    • Carbon, as new atoms made from the sugar
    • No gas, since plants do not release carbon dioxide
    • Carbon dioxide, from cellular respiration
  9. Tala follows carbon in a fallen leaf. Decomposers break the leaf down. In what form does much of its carbon return to the air?

    • As nothing, since decomposers destroy the carbon
    • As carbon dioxide gas
    • As oxygen gas, made from the leaf
    • As sugar, made new by the decomposers
  10. Zee reads two arrows between the air and the ocean surface. What do they show?

    • Carbon dioxide moves in one direction, from the water to the air
    • The ocean takes no part, since the arrows show wind
    • Carbon dioxide moves into the water and out of it again
    • Carbon dioxide moves into the water and is destroyed there
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9th grade How living things move carbon worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

How living things move carbon through the air, water and soil. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can name the process on a carbon arrow: photosynthesis takes carbon dioxide from the air into sugar; cellular respiration and decomposition give it back.
  • I can say that plant cells respire too, in light and in dark, and so release carbon dioxide as well as take it in.
  • I can name the carbon stores (the air, living things, the ocean, rock) and say that rock holds the most carbon (NASA, 2011) while the air and ocean exchange it quickly.
  • I can follow one carbon atom: air, sugar in grass, a grasshopper, wastes and remains, decomposers, air, and say that the atom is moved, never made or destroyed.
  • I can say what happens to the carbon in a fallen leaf: decomposers return much of it to the air as carbon dioxide, and some stays in the soil.
  • I can say that carbon dioxide dissolves in ocean water and leaves it again, a steady exchange, and that shells that settle on the seafloor turn to limestone, a store that lasts millions of years.

Standard: HS-LS2-5

Words to know

carbon cycle: The movement of carbon among the air, water, rock and living things

reservoir: A store that holds carbon for a time, such as the air, the ocean or rock

photosynthesis: Using light to build sugar from carbon dioxide and water

cellular respiration: Breaking sugar down for energy, releasing carbon dioxide; plant cells do it too

decomposer: An organism, such as a fungus or bacterium, that breaks down remains and wastes

decomposition: The breakdown of remains and wastes by decomposers, which releases carbon dioxide

phytoplankton: Tiny photosynthesizing organisms that float in the ocean

limestone: Rock made mostly of calcium carbonate, formed from shells that settled on the seafloor

Common mistakes

Your child thought plants only take in carbon dioxide and never release it. Plant cells also use sugar for energy, so they give off carbon dioxide too. Ask your child what plant cells do with the sugar they make.

Your child thought carbon in remains and wastes is destroyed when decomposers break it down. The carbon moves on, as carbon dioxide in the air or as carbon in the soil. Ask your child where the carbon atoms of a fallen leaf go.

Your child thought plants or decomposers make new carbon. Carbon atoms are moved from place to place, not made. Ask your child where each carbon atom in a leaf came from.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with how living things move carbon?

Your child thought plants only take in carbon dioxide and never release it. Plant cells also use sugar for energy, so they give off carbon dioxide too. Ask your child what plant cells do with the sugar they make.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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