Carbon Cycle Poster

Quick Answer: The Carbon Cycle Poster is a science wall poster that shows how carbon moves between its main stores, namely the atmosphere, oceans, living things, soils, rocks and fossil fuels, through processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition and combustion. It is used in biology, geography and environmental science lessons.

Stores and Flows of Carbon

The carbon cycle is easiest to teach as two kinds of thing: stores, where carbon is held, and flows, the processes that move it. A carbon cycle poster typically draws the atmosphere, the oceans, plants and animals, soils, limestone and other carbonate rocks, and underground coal, oil and gas, then links them with labelled arrows. Photosynthesis takes carbon dioxide out of the air; respiration by plants, animals and decomposers puts it back; burning fuels returns carbon that was locked away for millions of years.

A fast cycle and a slow cycle appear on the same sheet. The fast cycle turns over in years to centuries as carbon passes through leaves, animals and soil. The slow cycle works over millions of years: shells and skeletons of marine organisms settle as carbonate sediment, rocks weather, and volcanoes release carbon dioxide. Human activity links the two by moving carbon from the slow store of fossil fuels into the fast atmospheric store, which is why the poster connects directly to lessons on climate change.

Where a poster quotes the sizes of stores or flows, the figures come from a particular scientific source and year, so treat them as approximate and compare them with your textbook.

Applications

• Linking photosynthesis and respiration lessons into one cycle
• Explaining the role of decomposers and soil in recycling carbon
• Climate lessons on how burning fossil fuels raises atmospheric carbon dioxide
• Geography units on oceans as carbon sinks and on deforestation

Specifications

Care & Handling

• Display the poster in the room where both photosynthesis and respiration are taught, so the arrows can be pointed to in each topic.
• Hang it on a rail or clips so it can move to the geography room when the climate unit comes round.
• Keep it flat and dry in storage; damp causes ripples that crack the printed arrows over time.

Why Choose LabEquip

Science departments often place this poster beside the Animal and Plant Cell poster, since chloroplasts and mitochondria are where photosynthesis and respiration actually happen. Both are in the Educational Charts range, and orders for biology and geography rooms together can be sent through the LabEquip contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a carbon store and a carbon flow?

A store, or sink, is a place where carbon is held, such as the atmosphere, oceans, forests or fossil fuels. A flow, or flux, is a process that moves carbon from one store to another, such as photosynthesis or combustion.

Which processes remove carbon dioxide from the air?

Photosynthesis by plants, algae and phytoplankton is the main one. Carbon dioxide also dissolves in the oceans, and over very long periods the weathering of rocks and the formation of carbonate sediments lock carbon away.

How do decomposers fit into the carbon cycle?

Bacteria and fungi feed on dead organisms and waste, and their respiration releases carbon dioxide back into the air or soil. Without them, carbon would stay locked in dead material.

How are fossil fuels part of the cycle?

Coal formed from ancient plants, and oil and gas from marine organisms, buried and compressed over millions of years. Burning them releases within decades carbon that took geological time to store, adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Why does the ocean matter in the carbon cycle?

The ocean holds far more carbon than the atmosphere and exchanges carbon dioxide with the air at its surface. Marine life uses carbon for shells and skeletons, and some of it sinks to the sea floor as sediment.

What classroom experiment connects to the poster?

Place pondweed or leaf discs in hydrogencarbonate indicator, some in light and some in darkness. The indicator changes colour as the plant takes up carbon dioxide in light and releases it in the dark, showing two of the flows on the poster.

Last Updated: September 2026