The document summarizes the carbon cycle, explaining how plants take in carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and release it through respiration, while animals release carbon dioxide through respiration. It also outlines how decomposers release carbon from dead organisms back into the atmosphere, and how fossil fuels form from buried plants and animals over millions of years before the carbon is released through combustion. The oceans are a major carbon sink as dissolved carbon dioxide becomes calcium carbonate shells and eventually sedimentary rock.

2. Plants & The Carbon Cycle Plants take in carbon dioxide and convert it to sugar which can be stored until used for energy. This process is called photosynthesis.

3. Photosynthesis: CO 2 + H 2 O + sunlight yields O 2 + C 6 H 12 O 6

4. Plants & The Carbon Cycle Plants release carbon dioxide as a waste product when they convert their stored sugar to chemical energy. This process is called respiration.

5. Respiration: C 6 H 12 O 6 + O 2 yields CO 2 + H 2 O + energy

6. Animals & The Carbon Cycle Animals eat carbon contained in animal and plant tissues and release carbon dioxide as a waste product. This process is respiration .

7. Decay & The Carbon Cycle: Decomposers release the carbon from dead plant and animal tissues back into the atmosphere.

8. Fossil Fuels & The Carbon Cycle: Over millions of years fossil fuels may form from the buried remains of plants and animals.

9. Fossil Fuels & The Carbon Cycle: This carbon reenters the atmosphere during combustion .

10. The Oceans & The Carbon Cycle: Dissolved carbon dioxide in sea water becomes deposited as calcium carbonate shells.

11. The Oceans & The Carbon Cycle: Over millions of years, these shells form sedimentary rock.

13. Ocean deposits are the biggest sink of carbon on the planet. The Rock Cycle ultimately releases carbon stored in sedimentary rock.