Blog Post #3

1. This week I noticed that my plant sprouted a lot and is growing at a fast rate. The plant has leaves and its stem is about 6 inches.

2. The plants participate in the water cycle because they go through transportation. This is when the roots soak up the water and then travels up the stem and through the leaves and then is evaporated by the sun. My plant participated in the water cycle this week because when we watered it the plant performed transpiration. The plant also used the water to grow taller.

3. Our plant participated in the carbon cycle because plants go through photosynthesis that lets them take carbon and water from the atmosphere to make sugars and oxygen molecules. Then animals eat the plants and it gives them energy and carbon dioxide molecules which then the carbon returns back into the atmosphere and the plants use it again. This week our plants used carbon and water through photosynthesis to grow taller.

4. Our plants participate in the carbon cycle because the bacteria found in soil converts organic forms of nitrogen to inorganic forms that the plants can use. The nitrogen is taken up by plant roots and combined into organic substrates in the plant, such as enzymes, proteins and chlorophyll. When our plant dies, it will decay and become part of the organic matter in the soil. This week our plant took nitrogen up through it's roots and used it as proteins to grow.