After millions of years, sedimentary rock containing phosphorus is uplifted from plate tectonic activity. follow the phosphorus molecules found in the rock through the whole phosphorus cycle, by numbering the steps that would follow. 1. step 1 the bear, after a fruitful life, dies from old age. 2. step 2 a fish eats aquatic plants. 3. step 3 weathering and erosion of the rock deposits the phosphorus into water. 4. step 4 soil washes into a lake, where it sinks to the bottom to become sedimentary rock. 5. step 5 aquatic plants absorb and assimilate the dissolved phosphorus. 6. step 6 decomposition of the dead bear releases phosphorus into the soil. 7. step 7 the fish is caught and eaten by a bear.