Spheres of the Earth Notes & Practice

Spheres of the

Earth

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What are the 4 spheres of the

earth?

•The earth is made of 4 interacting spheres

•Lithosphere/geosphere - stone/ground
•Hydrosphere – water

•Cryosphere is the frozen part of the hydrosphere

•Atmosphere - air
•Biosphere - life

•Named using Greek roots describing what
they are made of

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What is the geosphere?

•The geosphere is
made of rocks,
minerals, and soil.
•It also includes all
the layers of the
earth’s interior
(mantle & core).

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What is the hydrosphere?

•The
hydrosphere is
made of all the
water that is
on Earth’s
surface,
underground,
and in the air

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What is the hydrosphere?

•The cryosphere is the
portion of the
hydrosphere that is
frozen.
•The cryosphere is
made primarily of
glaciers and sea ice.
These are monitored
to collect data about
climate change.

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What is the atmosphere?

•The atmosphere
is made of the
gases
surrounding the
earth.
•Mostly nitrogen
& oxygen

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What is the biosphere?

•The biosphere is
the portion of the
earth where life is
found.
•It extends high
into the air and
below the surface
into the oceans.

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How do these spheres interact?

Example

Rain (hydrosphere) falls on the
soil (lithosphere), which causes
grass (biosphere) to grow. A
cow (biosphere) eats the grass
and breathes out carbon dioxide
(atmosphere) as it eats.

•Earth’s spheres
are constantly interacting as conditions change.

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Summary

The portions of the earth can be
categorized by 4 spheres:
geosphere, hydrosphere,
atmosphere, and biosphere. These
spheres are constantly interacting as
environmental conditions change.

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Categorize

Options (20)

Land

Earth's core

Mantle

Mountains

Sand

Water

Oceans

Rivers

GroundWATER

Glaciers

Air

Oxygen

Water VAPOR

Ozone

Wind

Life

Plants

Animals

Insects

Humans

Organize these options into the right categories

Geosphere

Hydrosphere

Atmosphere

Biosphere

Drag and Drop

Water starts in the ​

Placeholder

and seeps into the ground to become groundwater in the ​

Placeholder

. Water in the ​

Placeholder

evaporates into the air to be a part of the ​

Placeholder

.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

hydrosphere

geosphere

atmosphere

biosphere

Drag and Drop

Plants take water from the ​

Placeholder

into their roots to be a part of the ​

Placeholder

. Humans are part of the ​

Placeholder

and breath oxygen that's part of the ​

Placeholder

.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

hydrosphere

biosphere

atmosphere

geosphere

Drag and Drop

Liquid oil is found in the

Placeholder

and we burn those fossil fuels so they end up in the ​

Placeholder

. Rivers have water so they are a part of the ​

Placeholder

but they deposit sediment which is part of the ​

Placeholder

.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

geosphere

atmosphere

hydrosphere

Multiple Choice

I'll show a video on my screen. It's found at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12898

When did NASA begin collecting satellite data on Arctic sea ice?

• March 17th

• 4 years ago

• Late 1970s

• 1996

Multiple Choice

Using the previous slide's video, found at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12898

How can a loss of sea ice be both a cause and an effect of climate change?

• Loss of sea ice is a cause of climate change because white ice reflects light back but darker color water absorbs heat

• Loss of sea ice has no impact on global weather patterns or climate.
• Loss of sea ice has no effect on climate change.