Assignment - Infographics - 125

A Note on What Makes This an Infographic

A labeled diagram of the nitrogen cycle belongs in a textbook. An infographic is different. Your job is to make someone who has never heard of the nitrogen cycle understand it completely from a single image - why it exists, what each step does, who the players are, and why it matters. Every stage needs a brief explanation, not just a name and an arrow.

Objective

Create a narrative infographic in Canva that explains the complete nitrogen cycle: what drives it, what organisms are involved at each stage, and why the cycle is essential for life.

Content to Cover

Why Nitrogen Matters

Start with a brief anchor statement: Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air we breathe, but most living things cannot use it directly. It must be converted into usable forms first. This conversion is the nitrogen cycle.

The Stages - Each Needs a Name, a Process Description, and the Organism Responsible

1. Nitrogen Fixation - Nitrogen gas (N₂) from the atmosphere is converted into ammonia (NH₃) or nitrates that plants can absorb. Done by: nitrogen-fixing bacteria in soil (e.g., Rhizobium in the root nodules of legume plants such as beans and peas), and by lightning.

2. Nitrification - Ammonia in the soil is converted first into nitrites, then into nitrates by nitrifying bacteria. Nitrates are the form most plants absorb through their roots.

3. Assimilation - Plants absorb nitrates from the soil and use nitrogen to build proteins and DNA. Animals get their nitrogen by eating plants or other animals.

4. Ammonification (Decomposition) - When plants and animals die, decomposers (bacteria and fungi) break down their proteins and return nitrogen to the soil as ammonia.

5. Denitrification - Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrates back into nitrogen gas (N₂), which returns to the atmosphere. This completes the cycle.

Human Impact

Add a separate panel: Human activity disrupts the cycle. Synthetic fertilizers add excess nitrates to soil. Runoff pollutes rivers and lakes, causing algal blooms that deprive water of oxygen (eutrophication). Include one local example if you can find one.

Design in Canva

• Show the cycle as a circular flow with the atmosphere at the top, soil in the middle, and plants and animals as part of the loop.
• Each stage: a short label, a one-sentence process description, and an icon for the organism involved.
• The human impact panel sits outside the main cycle as an interruption to it.
• Use blues and greens for the natural cycle; use a warning color (orange or red) for the human impact section.

Required Elements

• All 5 stages with process description and organism responsible.
• The opening anchor statement about why nitrogen matters.
• A human impact panel with at least one consequence.
• Title: “The Nitrogen Cycle.”