Nitrogen Cycle Animations

            The nitrogen cycle is the third ecological cycle the sixth graders have learned about this year.   They have completed a project in which they demonstrated the cycle in an animation. To make the project more "place based", students drew a picture of the tallgrass prairie which included wildflowers and forbs for their slide background. These prairie plants have bacteria in their roots that aid in nitrogen fixation.  The only other way that nitrogen can be converted into a usable form is through lightning. 

             After inserting their picture into powerpoint, they used the drawing  and animation tools to demonstrate the cycle. Nitrogen gas, N₂ is changed into a nitrate, NO_3, by the bacteria.  The plant is then able to utilize the nitrogen to grow and develop.  Animals receive nitrogen by eating the plants or other animals that have eaten the plants.  All living things must depend on this conversion to receive nitrogen even the though 78% of the atmosphere is made up of this gas. When the organisms die and return nitrates back to soil, it is converted to nitrogen gas by bacteria and released back into the atmosphere.

          .