Phosphate

• Primary (Grades K-2)
  Phosphate is a nutrient that all living things need to survive and grow.

• Intermediate (Grades 3-5)
  Phosphate is a nutrient that all living things need to survive and grow to store and use energy and transfer genetic information between cells.  It is found in soil and is mined from the ground to make fertilizer for plants, food for animals and many other products people use.

• Middle (Grades 6-8)
  Phosphate is a nutrient that all living things need to survive and grow.   Phosphates are extremely important to living cells, particularly in the storage and use of energy and the transmission of genetic information within a cell and from one cell to another.  In plants, phosphate is also used in the synthesis of ATP during photosynthesis.  Phosphate rock, which can not be dissolved in water, is mined to be used as a raw material in fertilizers, animal feeds and other products.  When made into fertilizers and animal feeds, it is made into a form that can be dissolved and used by the plants and animals.

• High (Grades 9-12)
  Phosphate is an essential nutrient for all living things.  It is necessary for the transmission of genetic information within a cell and from one cell to another and in the production of energy molecules ATP and ADP during the process of cellular respiration.  In plants, phosphate is also used in the synthesis of ATP during photosynthesis.  Insoluble phosphate rock is mined to be used as a raw material in fertilizers, animal feeds and other products.  When phosphate is processed into these products it is made soluble.  When soluble, the negatively charged phosphate ion consists of a phosphorus atom joined to four oxygen molecules as PO₄^-3 can be used by living organisms to form many of the molecules essential to life, growth and reproduction.