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Earth Science

Packet

What is Earth System Science?

A Study of the Earth's Atmosphere:

Made By Liesl at The Homeschool Den

http://www.parents.com/blogs/homeschool-den/

Earth System Science

The Earth is often divided into four spheres. The

four parts of Earth's system include the:

1) geosphere

2) hydrosphere

3) biosphere

4) atmosphere

The GEosphere:

This consists of the densest part of the world and is mostly made of rocks

and regolith (dust, soil, broken rock)

©2014 Made By Liesl at The Homeschool Den


The hydrosphere:

This consists of the water that exists on, under and over the surface of the

planet. This includes Earth's rivers, lakes, streams, seas, oceans,

underground water. Water covers ________% of the Earth's surface

The Cryosphere: This is the parts of the Earth's

surface where the water is in solid form (glaciers, snow, ice sheets,

ice caps, etc.)

The Biosphere:

All ecosystems together... All the places on Earth where life dwells. The

biosphere is divided into a number of biomes including both land and

water biomes. This includes all life on Earth -- in the air, on land, and in

the water.



The Earth's Atmosphere

Experiments

Air Has Weight!

Place two inflated balloons suspended off a ruler so they are balanced.

Deflate one by putting a pin in it. Are they still balanced or is one side heavier?

Warm Air Rises

Heat causes air to expand and become less dense. The air then rises, leaving an area

of low pressure. Cool air is denser and sinks and replaces the air that has risen. The

replacement of warmed air by cooler air is called a convection current.

Place a balloon on the top of a bottle. Put a rubber band around the balloon to

ensure that the fit is tight. Pour hot water in the pan. Place the bottle in the pan and

observe what happens. Then place the bottle and balloon in the fridge or in a tub of

ice and observe what happens.




The layer of air that surrounds Earth is

called the ______________________.

The atmosphere looks

like a thin blanket

surrounding the planet.

The earth is made of billions and billions of

__________________ particles.

Earth's air contains many gases. Look at the graph.

What percentage of the air is nitrogen? _______

oxygen? ____________

argon? ____________

carbon dioxide? ____________

Water vapor in the atmosphere

ranges from 0-4%.



Earth's atmosphere also contains various particles.

What kinds of things do you think make up the

particles in the air?

Dust particles provide a surface for ___________ _____________

to condense on so it can become precipitation such as ____________,

_______________ or _________________.

Another gas that exists in tiny quantities is _________________. It

is made of ________ oxygen molecules (rather than 2 in oxygen gas.)

Most ozone is in the layer that is 10-50 km (6-30 miles) high. Most

ozone is in the ______________________________ layer. Ozone

protects life on Earth by absorbing some of the ________'s harmful

rays.



Structure of the Atmosphere

The Earth's atmosphere stretches about ___________km

(620 miles) from the surface to outer space.

Scientists have divided the

atmosphere into four

zones. The divisions are

based on temperature.

Take a few notes on each

layer (left):



The Layers of the Atmosphere

On the left side of the chart,

draw air molecules (blue circles)

as they would appear in the

atmosphere.

Draw a picture of where an

airplane traveling long distances

would fly.

Draw pictures of where a

meteor is most likely to burn up.

Draw a picture of satellite in the

proper zone.

Draw a picture of a

cumulonimbus cloud.

Show where the auroras occur.

_________% of the Earth's

atmosphere by weight is within

10 miles of the surface.

The greater the height above sea level, the thinner the air is. Explain

what you know about hikers who climb Mt. Everest:

THERMOSPHERE

THERMOSPHERE



Layers of the Atmosphere Activity

Cut out the picture of earth below. Add in 5 concentric circles. and put a brad

through the middle. Label the 5 layers of the atmosphere around the very edge.



Layers of the Atmosphere Activity

Here is a bigger satellite photo of earth that you can use, just cut out your own

circles (as on the previous page).



Layers of the Atmosphere

Activity:

In the end the finished project will look

something like this:

Air pressure

Put hot tap water in a bucket. Place an empty water bottle into the bucket and leave

it there for 2 minutes. Then put the lid on. Remove the bottle from the water. Pour

the water out of the bucket and place very cold water in the bucket. Place the water

bottle in the bucket without removing the cap. Does anything happen to the bottle?

Listen as you remove the cap.

When air is warmed, it ___expands_______________.

What happens when you take a water bottle from a high altitude to a

low altitude? Why?




Answers are underlined

The layer of air that surrounds Earth is called the atmosphere.

The atmosphere looks like a thin blanket surrounding the planet.

The earth is made of billions and billions of gas particles.

Earth's air contains many gases. Look at the graph.

What percentage of the air is nitrogen? 78

oxygen? 21

argon? 0.93

carbon dioxide? 0.035

Water vapor in the atmosphere ranges from 0-4%.

Earth's atmosphere also contains dust particles. What kinds of things

do you think make up the dust particles in the air?

(dirt, soot, pollen grains, meteor remains, etc.)

Dust particles provide a surface for water vapor to condense on so it

can become precipitation such as rain, snow or hail.

Another gas that exists in tiny quantities is ozone .It

is made of three oxygen molecules (rather than 2 in oxygen gas.)

Most ozone is in the layer that is 10-50 km (6-30 miles) high. Most

ozone is in the stratosphere layer. Ozone protects life on Earth by

absorbing some of the suns's harmful rays. ©2014 Made By Liesl at The Homeschool Den


Structure of the

Atmosphere The Earth's atmosphere

stretches about 1,000km

(620 miles) from the

surface to outer space.

Scientists have divided the

atmosphere into four

zones. The divisions are

based on temperature.

Take a few notes on each

layer (left)

General Notes (things I've jotted down,

you may need to add to this!):

Troposphere: Most of the clouds are in this layer. This is where

weather occurs. This layer contains about 80% of the total mass of the

atmosphere (including almost all of the water vapor).

The troposphere is warmed from below by the ground. Air is heated by

contact with the Earth. The warm air rises and is replaced by cooler air.

These vertical currents create horizontal winds.

Tropopause: the zone where the troposphere ends and the stratosphere

begins has breaks and overlapping leaves which create the jet stream

winds.



Stratosphere: The almost weatherless part of the atmosphere. It has

very little vertical air movements. Temperature drops much more slowly

in this layer than in the troposphere (in fact, temperature increases at

the top of this layer). Flying in the stratosphere is generally smooth and

the visibility is excellent. Air is thin and offers very little resistance to

a plane. Air planes leave trails as moisture from the plane engine leaves

moisture - condensation trails Within the stratosphere are molecules of

gas called ozone. These absorb a type of solar radiation that is harmful

to life.

Mesophere: This is the coldest layer of the atmosphere. temperature

decreases (30 to -100 F). The air is extremely thin. It contains less

than 0.1 % of the atmosphere's mass. The mesosphere is heated from

below so temperatures decrease as you rise.

Thermosphere: This is the outermost layer. It is hot -- temperatures

increase quickly with height. Temperatures in the thermosphere can

reach thousands of degrees C. The molecules high in this layer absorb a

certain type of solar radiation. The air is extremely thin. Scattered air

particles are ionized or electrified by the removal of electrons. That is

because cosmic rays from space constantly bombard the air particles.

The ionized air forms layers that reflect radio waves back to earth.

That's what makes it possible for us to receive radio waves from

beyond the horizon.

The temperature in this layer is extremely high.



Layer's of the Atmosphere:

On the left side of the chart, draw air molecules (blue circles) as they

would appear in the

atmosphere.

Draw a picture of where an

airplane traveling long

distances would fly.

Draw pictures of where a

meteor is most likely to

burn up.

Draw a picture of satellite

in the proper zone.

Draw a picture of a

cumulonimbus cloud.

THERMOSPHERE



Layer's of the Atmosphere:

EXOSPHERE

--------------------960km

--------------------190km

---------------------50km

---------------------10km

Earth's Surface

Earth's Surface

TROPOSPHERE (6mi)

MESOSPHERE (120mi)

STRATOSPHERE (30mi)

THERMOSPHERE (600mi)



Geosphere:

To explore more about Earth's geosphere you may want

to do this activity on the layers of the Earth.

Search: Homeschool Den Layers of the Earth Activity or

go to http://www.parents.com/blogs/homeschool-den/2011/01/31/science/earth-science-layers-of-the-

earth-hands-on-activity/


http://www.parents.com/blogs/homeschool-den/2011/01/31/science/earth-science-layers-of-the-earth-hands-on-activity/




Biosphere and Biomes:

If you want to go into more dept about biomes, you might want to visit

my website. We made a biomes pin map which allows students to place

pictures of the various biomes (desert, savanna, tundra, etc. on the

map) on the biome map.

Search: Homeschool Den World Biomes Pin Map or go to

http://www.parents.com/blogs/homeschool-den/2012/06/12/science/world-biomes-pin-map/





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