Nitrogen Cycle for Kids
The following article explains the nitrogen cycle for kids in simple sentences for easy understanding. Keep reading.
The air surrounding us is made up of gases, invisible yet present, mainly oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Have you ever wondered why the levels of these gases are maintained and not exhausted? Well, the simple answer is through these atmospheric cycles. And one such important cycle is the nitrogen cycle. Yes, the nitrogen cycle helps maintain the levels of nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere. If you check the composition of air, there is almost 80% of nitrogen reserve in the atmosphere.
After knowing the brief of nitrogen cycle, next query is, how would it prove to be beneficial to living organisms? Our body and plants, in general, are made of number of biological materials which contain nitrogen as one of the main components and therefore the need to take up and utilize nitrogen. Even though abundant amounts of nitrogen is present in the surroundings, we ain't able to utilize because it is difficult to absorb it in gaseous form. Also, as we are consumers and dependent on plants for food, we obtain nitrogen from them. But, plants too find it difficult to absorb atmospheric nitrogen. And that is where the nitrogen cycle comes into picture.
Talking about the actual nitrogen cycle steps, it is not difficult to understand at all. Just a few bacteria names and terms you got to know! Now the whole cycle starts from the soil. You agree that plants grow on soil, right? Atmospheric nitrogen gets precipitated on the soil due to natural processes as well as fertilizers contribute in the nitrogen assimilation. And as I said, plants can absorb nitrogen only when converted to usable form. So what is required is the nitrogen fixation. There are 2 ways through which it is done. There are some plants which have nitrogen fixing bacteria like Rhizobium that convert the nitrogen into ammonia (usable form) that can be utilized and absorbed by the plants easily. However, these bacteria are a characteristic of leguminous plants (plants having root nodules) alone. Alternatively, lightening helps in nitrogen fixation as well.
The terms I was talking about here are ammonification and nitrification. Ammonium ions are converted to nitrites and then to nitrates with a special type of bacteria (nitrifying bacteria that is the Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas). So ammonification is followed by nitrification. The nitrates are then utilized for the life processes wherein they are essential components of the genetic material and proteins. When the plants die, the nitrates are released into the soil wherein they get converted to ammonium followed by nitrogen in the atmosphere with the help of denitrifying bacteria present in the soil, the process being denitrification. One thing to remember here is, nitrification is an aerobic process (takes place in presence of oxygen gas) while denitrification, anaerobic process (no oxygen required). We, humans, consume fruits and vegetables from plants itself and that is how the nitrogen is passed into our body. We eliminate nitrogen in the form of feces and urine which eventually comes back to the soil and the cycle continues.
This is it - the simple steps to understand nitrogen cycle. I hope now you won't face any difficulty in learning this atmospheric cycle. Good luck!
Talking about the actual nitrogen cycle steps, it is not difficult to understand at all. Just a few bacteria names and terms you got to know! Now the whole cycle starts from the soil. You agree that plants grow on soil, right? Atmospheric nitrogen gets precipitated on the soil due to natural processes as well as fertilizers contribute in the nitrogen assimilation. And as I said, plants can absorb nitrogen only when converted to usable form. So what is required is the nitrogen fixation. There are 2 ways through which it is done. There are some plants which have nitrogen fixing bacteria like Rhizobium that convert the nitrogen into ammonia (usable form) that can be utilized and absorbed by the plants easily. However, these bacteria are a characteristic of leguminous plants (plants having root nodules) alone. Alternatively, lightening helps in nitrogen fixation as well.
The terms I was talking about here are ammonification and nitrification. Ammonium ions are converted to nitrites and then to nitrates with a special type of bacteria (nitrifying bacteria that is the Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas). So ammonification is followed by nitrification. The nitrates are then utilized for the life processes wherein they are essential components of the genetic material and proteins. When the plants die, the nitrates are released into the soil wherein they get converted to ammonium followed by nitrogen in the atmosphere with the help of denitrifying bacteria present in the soil, the process being denitrification. One thing to remember here is, nitrification is an aerobic process (takes place in presence of oxygen gas) while denitrification, anaerobic process (no oxygen required). We, humans, consume fruits and vegetables from plants itself and that is how the nitrogen is passed into our body. We eliminate nitrogen in the form of feces and urine which eventually comes back to the soil and the cycle continues.
This is it - the simple steps to understand nitrogen cycle. I hope now you won't face any difficulty in learning this atmospheric cycle. Good luck!
Like This Article?
Follow:
Post Comment