It may be used as part of a sugar in a plant. It may become part of a protein in an animal. It may be consumed as a fossil fuel is burned. It may be decomposed into carbon and oxygen by a bacterium.
In one of the steps of the carbon cycle, a person exhales a molecule of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Which of the following is most likely to happen next to the atom of carbon in this molecule?

Options:
- It may be used as part of a sugar in a plant.
- It may become part of a protein in an animal.
- It may be consumed as a fossil fuel is burned.
- It may be decomposed into carbon and oxygen by a bacterium.

It may be used as part of a sugar in a plant.