Vocabulary Choice Board

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Across
  1. 2. storage location for elements or compounds (e.g., ocean, atmosphere, soil)
  2. 5. cycle movement of elements through living organisms and the environment
  3. 10. Niño a periodic warming of surface waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean that weakens trade winds and alters global weather patterns.
  4. 11. any process, location, or system that releases a substance or energy into the environment, adding it to a cycle.
  5. 13. processes that release minerals or nutrients from rocks
  6. 14. fuels long-term carbon storage from buried organic material (coal, oil, natural gas)
  7. 15. any process, location, or system that absorbs or stores a substance or energy from the environment, temporarily or permanently removing it from a cycle.
  8. 19. effect increase in Earth’s temperature from trapped heat by CO₂ and other gases
  9. 20. the gases surrounding Earth, forming the air and weather systems.
  10. 21. bacteria convert ammonia to nitrites (NO₂⁻) and nitrates (NO₃⁻)
  11. 24. the solid parts of Earth, including rocks, soil, and landforms.
  12. 25. fixation bacteria or lightning convert atmospheric N₂ into ammonia (NH₃) or ammonium (NH₄⁺)
  13. 27. liquid water changes to vapor
  14. 28. downward movement of water into soil and rock layers
  15. 29. water vapor cools to liquid forming clouds
  16. 30. (Mineralization) decomposition releasing ammonia from organic matter
  17. 31. bacteria temporarily lock up nutrients for their own use
Down
  1. 1. conversion of nitrates back to atmospheric N₂ gas
  2. 3. evaporation of water from plant leaves
  3. 4. all living things on Earth and the environments where they exist.
  4. 6. all water on, above, and below Earth’s surface
  5. 7. rain, snow, sleet, or hail returning water to Earth
  6. 8. movement of water (and nutrients) across Earth’s surface
  7. 9. absorption of nutrients by an organism.
  8. 12. change a long-term shift in Earth’s average temperature and weather patterns, occurring naturally or through human influence.
  9. 16. layer of rock or sediment holding groundwater
  10. 17. Niña the cooling phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), when stronger trade winds push warm water westward, increasing upwelling in the eastern Pacific.
  11. 18. flow of water into the ground to recharge aquifers
  12. 22. movement of rock layers bringing nutrients back to surface
  13. 23. phosphate settles in oceans forming new rocks
  14. 24. water stored underground in aquifers
  15. 26. Cycles long-term variations in Earth’s orbit, tilt, and wobble that alter how solar energy is distributed across the planet.