Post Assignment #3 - Alia Latimer

Over all our little seedlings haven't changed much. While it is true that their leaves have gotten longer, their stalks have gotten bigger, and just their overall size has increased there hasn't been much other change. It is important to note that the leaves have started to change in shape, and there are more leaves, that is where the changes stop. I do think that there will be more changes t occur, but currently they remain a pale green color.

In terms of the water cycle our little plants interact with it in the same way i assume most plants do. Obviously they are taking in the water that we give them and using it to grow and thrive, which then goes back into the environment through transpiration. There is also the less direct interaction of when the morning dew collects on the leaves on the plants, evaporation off later in the day, or being used by an insect or animal as a source of water. The plants also receive water on occasion from rain, which despite being scarce would have still been an interaction with the water cycle. These interactions have helped our broccoli to thrive and grow. As we saw in a previous attempt the water is essential to the growth of the plant throughout it's life, and especially in the earliest stages. Water is essential for all life and these little plants are not exception, which is why we have to make sure that they are constantly engaged in the water cycle through receiving water.

Plants as a variety have one of the most essential parts in the carbon cycle, which is recycling the carbon into oxygen. Our broccoli are responsible for taking in the carbon put out into the atmosphere by fires, human machinery, and animal respiration, and turn it back into breathable oxygen. They store up this carbon and use it for growing, only returning the carbon back to the earth through being burned, being eaten, or dying. Obviously our plants have been using the carbon to grow, since they have been getting larger slowly.

Plants again have a similar niche in the nitrogen cycle that they do in the carbon cycle. After bacteria  breaks down the nitrogen from the air into the soil, the plants use it to grow through assimilation. The nitrogen is then passed from the plants into the natural flow of energy in the food chain. So obviously as the plants live in the soil they will be taking in nitrogen, and when insects or humans eat them they will be passing it on.