Name: __________________________________ Period: ______ Date: ____________________
Games: Cycles in the Environment
Directions:
For each of the cycles:
 first fill in the names of the processes that are missing
 Pick a starting point and put a star there on the diagram
 Using the directions packet at each table, flip a coin and follow the
directions according to the results. Mark on your diagram the pathway
you take in each cycle. You should do at least 15 “turns”.
 Write out in words, your journey through each cycle. It should not just
read…and then I…and then I…and then I. It should tell me about the
processes: It rained and I fell to Earth and soaked into the ground
(percolated). From there, I made my way through the water table to a lake….
Water Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Carbon can be found in many different forms. Name some and how they are used
by living organisms.
Nitrogen cycle
Nitrogen can be found in many different forms. Name some and how they are used
by living organisms.
Water Cycle Directions:
You are a molecule of water
Flip a coin and do what the directions read. Be sure to draw your pathway on your
diagram, so you can write it out in words later.
Location:
Results:
Clouds
Heads: precipitation lands on the land
Tails: precipitation lands over water. You can
pick lake or ocean.
Ocean
Heads: Evaporate into the atmosphere and
condense into clouds.
Tails: You are taken up into the roots of a
plant
Lake
Heads: Evaporate into the atmosphere
and condense into clouds
Tails: You are taken up into the roots of a
plant
Land
Heads: Runoff into a stream, which flows
into a river and then into a lake
Tails: Percolate (soak) into the soil
Plant
Heads: Transpire (given off as part of
photosynthesis) into the atmosphere,
condense into cloud
Tails: Taken up by the plant and used
in its processes (photosynthesis, etc.)
Soil
Heads: Get taken in by the roots of a plant
Tails: Soak into the groundwater and make
your way into the ocean or a lake
Carbon Cycle Directions:
You are an atom of carbon.
Flip a coin and do what the directions read. Be sure to draw your pathway on your
diagram, so you can write it out in words later.
Location:
Results:
Atmosphere
Heads: CO2 taken in by plant and used
in photosynthesis.
Tails: CO2 breathed in by an animal and
not used – breathed back out. Flip
again.
Plant
Heads: Carbon is part of a carbohydrate.
Plant is eaten by an animal.
Tails: Carbon is part of a carbohydrate.
The plant dies and decomposes.
right back out into the atmosphere
Fossil fuel
Heads: Carbon is part of a hydrocarbon.
It’s burned and released as CO2 into
the atmosphere.
Tails: Carbon is part of a hydrocarbon.
It’s burned and released as CO2 into
the atmosphere.
Animal
Heads: CO2 s a waste product of cell
respiration and is breathed out into
the atmosphere.
Tails: Carbon is given off as waste
products and decomposes.
Decompose
Heads: CO2 is a waste gas as things
decompose and is released into the
atmosphere.
Tails: Other atoms decompose and
carbon is left in an almost pure
hydrocarbon form in fossil fuels.
Nitrogen Cycle Directions:
You are an atom of nitrogen.
Flip a coin and do what the directions read. Be sure to draw your pathway on your
diagram, so you can write it out in words later.
Location:
Results:
Atmosphere
Heads: N2 goes into the soil and is
changed into a form usable by
plants in a process called nitrogen
fixation.
Tails: N2 is changed into ammonia (NH3)
by bacteria in the soil in a process
called nitrogen fixation.
Animal
Heads: Nitrogen is a component of our
proteins. What is not used in
proteins is given off as ammonia
(NH3) in waste.
Tails: What nitrogen is used as protein is
released when we die and
decompose and become ammonia
(NH3).
Plant
Heads: As part of a protein, nitrogen is
eaten by the animal.
Tails: Plants die, decompose and become
ammonia (NH3).
Ammonia
Heads: NH3 is taken up by plants in a
process called assimilation.
Tails: NH3 is changed into nitrates (NO3)
in a process called nitrification.
Nitrates
Heads: NO3 is taken up by plants in a
process called assimilation.
Tails: NO3 is broken back down into N2
and released into the atmosphere.