Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What on Earth?
What is the Earth system?
A system is a group of related objects or parts
that work together to form a whole.
The Earth system is all of the matter, energy,
and processes within Earths boundary.
Earth is a complex system made of living and
nonliving things, and matter and energy
continuously cycle through the smaller systems.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the geosphere?

The geosphere is the mostly solid, rocky part of
Earth. It extends from the center of Earth to the
surface of Earth.
The thin, outermost layer of the geosphere is
called the crust. It is made mostly of silicate
minerals.
Oceanic crust is 5 to 10 km thick. Continental
crust is 35 to 70 km thick.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the geosphere?

The mantle is the layer that lies below the crust. It
is about 2,900 km thick.
The mantle is made of very slow-flowing, solid
rock, consisting of silicate minerals that are
denser than the silicates in the crust.
Earths central part, called the core, has a radius
of about 3,500 km. It is made of iron and nickel
and is very dense.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the geosphere?

Describe the characteristics of the layers of Earth.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

Got Water?
What is the hydrosphere?
The hydrosphere is the part of Earth that is
liquid water.
Oceans, lakes, rivers, marshes, groundwater, rain,
and the water droplets in clouds are part of the
hydrosphere.
Water on Earth is constantly moving. It even
moves into and out of living things.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the cryosphere?

The cryosphere is made up of all of the frozen
water on Earth.
Snow, ice, sea ice, glaciers, ice shelves, icebergs,
and permafrost are all part of the cryosphere.
Changes in the cryosphere can play an important
role in Earths climate and species survival.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What a Gas!
What is the atmosphere?
The atmosphere is a mixture of mostly invisible
gases that surround Earth.
It extends outward about 500 to 600 km from
Earths surface, but most of the gases lie within 8
to 50 km of Earths surface.
The atmosphere is about 78 percent nitrogen, 21
percent oxygen, and 1 percent many other gases.

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the atmosphere?

Minor gases in the atmosphere include argon,
carbon dioxide, and water vapor.
The atmosphere contains the air we breathe.
It also traps some energy from the sun, which
helps keep Earth warm enough for living things to
survive and multiply.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the atmosphere?

Some gases of the atmosphere absorb and reflect
harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun,
protecting Earth and its living things.
The atmosphere also causes space debris to burn
up before reaching Earths surface and causing
harm.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the biosphere?

The biosphere is made up of living things and the
areas of Earth where they are found.
Organisms usually need oxygen or carbon dioxide
to carry out life processes.
Liquid water, moderate temperatures, and a stable
source of energy are also important for most living
things.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

Whats the Matter?

How do Earths spheres interact?
All of the five spheres of Earth interact as matter
and energy change and cycle through the system.
A result of these interactions is that they make life
on Earth possible.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

How do Earths spheres interact?

Earths spheres interact as matter moves between
them. In some processes, matter moves through
several spheres.
Earths spheres also interact as energy moves
from one sphere to another, and back and forth
between spheres.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

How do Earths spheres interact?

How many parts of the Earth system can you
identify in this image? How do they interact?

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

Balancing the Budget

What is the source of Earths energy?
Almost all of Earths energy comes from the sun.
A tiny fraction of Earths energy comes from ocean
tides and geothermal sources such as lava and
magma.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the source of Earths energy?

Energy is transferred between Earths spheres, but
it is not created or destroyed.
Any addition of energy to one sphere must be
balanced by an equal subtraction of energy from
another sphere.
The movement of energy through Earths system
forms an energy budget.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the source of Earths energy?

Trace the flow of energy through Earths system.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What is the source of Earths energy?

When Earths energy flow is balanced, global
temperatures stay relatively stable over long
periods of time.
Sometimes, changes in the system cause Earths
energy budget to become unbalanced.

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Unit 1 Lesson 1 Earths Spheres

What can disturb Earths energy

budget?

An increase in greenhouse gases traps more

energy in the atmosphere and decreases the
amount of energy radiated out to space.
Polar ice and glaciers reflect sunlight. When the
ice melts, the exposed water and land absorb and
then radiate more energy than the ice did.
In each case, Earths atmosphere becomes
warmer, which may lead to climate changes.

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