Carbon Cycle

Carbon Cycle
In the carbon cycle, plants, animals, and soil interact to make up the basic cycles of nature. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Photosynthesis takes the carbon atoms from carbon dioxide and changes them into sugars. Primary consumer animals eat the plants and use the carbon in their own bodies. Secondary level animals eat the primary consumers and then use the carbon for their own needs. These animals return carbon dioxide into the air when they breathe and when they die during decomposition. The carbon atoms in soil can then be used in a new plant or by microorganisms. The same carbon atom can move through many organisms and even end in the same place where it began. The same atoms can be recycled for hundreds or thousands of years.