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Biogeochemical Cycles Dashboard

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About This MicroSim

This MicroSim turns a richly layered landscape illustration into a dashboard for tracking how matter flows through the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water cycles. The static art shows mountains, forests, farmland, wetlands, ocean waters, and underground strata so learners can visually anchor each reservoir. Interactive tabs fade in overlays for each cycle, highlighting reservoirs, process arrows, and human impacts such as combustion or fertilizer runoff. The goal is to help students compare how the same landscape supports multiple biogeochemical loops.

How to Use

  1. Move through the tabs to focus on one cycle at a time; the legend explains what each color-coded glow or arrow means.
  2. Hover markers to read short explanations of reservoirs, fluxes, and human interventions tied to the artwork (e.g., the smokestack plume or aquifer).
  3. Toggle the “Human Impact” layer to compare the balanced natural cycle with altered flows such as eutrophication, fossil fuel combustion, or deforestation.
  4. Challenge yourself to trace a specific atom (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, or water) from source to sink across at least three reservoirs.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

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<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/biology/sims/biogeochemical-cycles/main.html"
        height="450px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

9-12 (AP/IB Biology or Earth Science)

Duration

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Understanding that matter cycles through reservoirs instead of being newly created or destroyed.
  • Familiarity with reading diagrams and legends.
  • Prior exposure to an individual cycle (carbon or water) so students can scale up to multiple cycles at once.

Activities

  1. Exploration (5 min): Free navigation through all tabs while students jot down observed reservoirs and fluxes unique to each cycle.
  2. Guided Practice (5 min): Assign a “follow the atom” prompt (e.g., trace a nitrogen atom from lightning to the ocean floor) and have students verbalize each path using the overlays.
  3. Assessment (5 min): Provide a short worksheet asking students to identify the two reservoirs most affected by human activity in each cycle and justify their choice referencing the dashboard.

Assessment

  • Diagram annotations or written responses describing at least three reservoirs, two fluxes, and one human impact per cycle.
  • Exit ticket question: “Which reservoir serves as the long-term sink for each cycle, and how do you know?” Students must reference visual evidence.
  • Optional extension: Students design a mitigation strategy (e.g., riparian buffer) and describe how it would change the overlays.

References

  1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Carbon Cycle.” Accessed
  2. https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/carbon-cycle/
  3. NASA Earth Observatory. “Water Cycle.” Accessed 2024. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Water
  4. U.S. Geological Survey. “Nutrient Cycling in Agricultural Landscapes.” Accessed 2024. https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources