Carbon Cycle - Free Printable

- Carbon is a nonmetal element essential for all living organisms, serving as the basic building block of life and found in carbohydrates, sugars, DNA, and more.
- It exists in forms like diamond, graphite, and impure forms such as charcoal, soot, and coal, and makes up about 18% of human body weight.
- Carbon provides energy through processes like combustion in automobiles and is crucial for photosynthesis, where plants use sunlight, CO₂, and water to produce their own food.
- The carbon cycle involves the movement of carbon between living things, dead matter, and the atmosphere through sources (like volcanic eruptions and fossil fuel burning), sinks (like forests and oceans), and reservoirs (like mineral carbon).
- Key processes in the carbon cycle include plant and animal respiration, decomposition of dead matter, combustion, and root respiration, all contributing to the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the environment.