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Carbon atoms are recycled, never created. You are made of ancient stardust and recycled T-Rex parts! Every brick in your body has been here since the beginning of Earth.
Trees don't eat dirt—they "eat" invisible air! They pull Carbon Dioxide from the sky and turn it into solid matter. A tree is actually "crystallized atmosphere."
Inside every leaf, chlorophyll acts like a solar drill. It uses sunlight to split water molecules and capture carbon, building the glucose sugars that give the tree its strength.
Humans are the engine! When we eat those sugars, we do the exact opposite of a plant. We burn the sugar using oxygen to release energy, exhaling Carbon Dioxide back into the air.
The "10% Tax": Only about 10% of energy transfers to the next level. Most is used up just by living. This is why food chains are short and Apex Predators are rare.
Animals use Food Webs to "skip links" and get more energy. Plants provide the fuel (sugar), while meat provides the building materials (proteins and fats).
Carbon sinks to the deep sea as "Marine Snow." Over millions of years, these layers of dead plankton and shells are cooked by Earth's heat into liquid oil or rocky limestone reefs.
Decomposers like mushrooms and bacteria are the "Reset Button." They break down dead matter, releasing the trapped LEGO bricks back into the soil and air to start the cycle again.
You are essentially "rearranged air," powered by ancient sunlight. You are connected to the trees, the dinosaurs, and the stars through this one giant, invisible story.
Sr. Johnson needs Science Volunteers to validate the Carbon Journey!