Earth's Spheres

Quarter 2 Mini-Lesson: Earth's Spheres

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​SC.6.E.7.4 Differentiate and show interactions among the geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. (DoK 3)

​Earth's Sphere Key Concepts

• When studying the Earth, scientists consider it a system of parts all interacting and working together. They divide this system into four (or five) spheres: atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere (and sometimes cryosphere).

• ​The root of the words describe what is included in each category:

  • ​atmos = air = all of the gases surrounding the Earth

  • ​bio = life = all living (or once living) things

  • ​geo = land and rock = Earth's crust and landforms

  • ​hydro = water = all of Earth's oceans, lakes, rivers, etc.

  • ​cryo = ice = all of the frozen water

The ​atmosphere is the envelope of gases surrounding Earth that extends up to approximately 10,000 km above Earth's surface (the extreme edges of the atmosphere lie about 35,000 km above the surface). Atmospheric density decreases going further away from Earth's surface. Because of this, most (99%) of the atmosphere's mass lies within 30 km of Earth's surface.

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​The biosphere includes both oceanic and terrestrial (land) domains. On land, there are a number of different, easily recognizable communities called biomes. Biomes essentially result from the interaction of regional climate, biota (life), and substrates (soils or underlying surfaces) and are usually defined by their vegetation.

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Derived from the Greek word "kryo", meaning cold, the cryosphere encompasses those parts of the Earth system that are subject to temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius for at least part of the year. Its largest components by far are the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, but the cryosphere also includes: ice caps and glaciers, sea ice, ice shelves, snow, river and lake ice, and frozen ground.

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​The geosphere is the outer rigid shell of the solid Earth. It is composed of the entire crust (oceanic and continental) and the top rigid portion of the mantle lying above the partially melted, less rigid athenosphere. Broken into major tectonic plates moving relative to one another over the asthenosphere, the geosphere consists of rocks, sediment, and soil.

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​The hydrosphere consists of all of the Earth's water, whether it be gas, liquid, or solid. Most water (97%) resides in the oceans. The remainder is found in the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica (2%), and in freshwater lakes, rivers, groundwater below the surface, and water vapor in the atmosphere (1%).

Multiple Choice

This sphere includes the continents, the ocean floor, all the rocks on the surface, and all of the sand in the deserts. 

• Hydrosphere 
• Biosphere 
• Atmosphere 
• Geosphere 

Multiple Choice

This sphere is composed of all the living things 

• Hydrosphere 
• Biosphere 
• Atmosphere 
• Geosphere 

Multiple Choice

Body of air surrounding our planet. 

• Hydrosphere 
• Biosphere 
• Atmosphere 
• Geosphere 

Multiple Choice

Water evaporating from the surface of a lake moves from the...

• Atmosphere to the geosphere 
• Geosphere to the hydrosphere 
• Hydrosphere to the atmosphere 
• Atmosphere to the hydrosphere 

Multiple Choice

When living things breathe, they interact with which of Earth's spheres? 

• Geosphere 
• Hydrosphere 
• Atmosphere 
• Biosphere 

Multiple Choice

When dead plants decompose and nitrogen is returned to the soil, the interaction is between which two spheres? 

• The biosphere and atmosphere 
• The atmosphere and geosphere 
• The geosphere and atmosphere 
• The biosphere and geosphere 

Multiple Choice

When carbon dioxide dissolves from the air into the ocean- the interaction is between...

• The atmosphere and geosphere 
• The atmosphere and hydrosphere 
• The atmosphere and biosphere 
• The atmosphere and atmosphere 

Multiple Choice

Oceans, rivers, lakes, and the moisture in the air are all part of which of Earth's spheres? 

• Hydrosphere 
• Biosphere 
• Atmosphere 
• Geosphere 

Multiple Choice

When volcanoes erupt, dust and ash particles spread through much of the air blocking the sun.  Which two spheres are interacting? 

• Hydrosphere and atmosphere 
• Geosphere and atmosphere 
• Biosphere and atmosphere 
• Atmosphere and atmosphere 

Multiple Choice

Energy from the sun is stored by plants. When animals eat the plants, they acquire the energy originally captured by the plants. Between which two spheres is the above interaction? 

• Hydrosphere and biosphere 
• Atmosphere and biosphere 
• Biosphere and biosphere 
• Geosphere and biosphere 

Multiple Choice

When plants draw nutrients from the soil, the interaction is between which two spheres? 

• The atmosphere and the geosphere 
• The geosphere and the hydrosphere 
• The hydrosphere and atmosphere 
• The biosphere and the geosphere