8
AssignmentMultiple Select

The Cycles of Matter

Question 8 • NC-Earth Environmental Science LB

Check the items you included.

Answer
A
Phosphorus cycles between living things and the soil.
B
Plants absorb phosphates from the soil and turn them into organic compounds through assimilation.
C
Animals eat plants and pass the phosphorus through the food chain from one animal to the other.
D
An animal dies and decomposes, returning the phosphorus to the soil.

Explanation

All four statements describe parts of the phosphorus cycle. Phosphorus moves between soil and living things: plants take up soil phosphates and assimilate them into organic compounds, while animals obtain phosphorus by eating plants or other animals. When organisms die, decomposition returns phosphorus to the soil.

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