1. Earth’s Atmosphere

2. Describing Earth’s Atmosphere
Part One

3. Key Concepts
1: Why is Earth’s atmosphere important to life on earth? 2: How did Earth’s atmosphere form? 3: What is Earth’s atmosphere made of? 4: What are the layers of Earth’s atmosphere? 5: How do air pressure and temperature change as altitude increases?

4. Vocabulary
Atmosphere Water Vapor Troposphere Stratosphere Ozone Layer Ionosphere

5. What Is Atmosphere?
Atmosphere is a thin layer of gases that surround Earth.
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6. Earth’s atmosphere is hundreds of kilometers high, however compared to it’s size, the atmosphere is about as thick as an apple’s skin is to an apple.
What could be something else that we model the Earth’s atmosphere after?

7. Important Because…..Essentials to Life
The atmosphere contains oxygen (O₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and water (H₂0) that all life on earth need to survive.
H₂O
H₂O
CO₂ O₂ O₂
H₂O
H₂O
CO₂
CO₂ O₂ O₂
CO₂
H₂O
What would happen if there was no water, oxygen and carbon dioxide?
H₂O

8. Important Because…..A Great Big Blanket
The atmosphere protects Earth like a big blanket of insulation.
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It absorbs the heat from the Sun and keeps the heat inside the atmosphere helping the Earth to stay warm, in a process called the Greenhouse Effect.
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It also keeps the overall temperature of the Earth fairly steady, especially between night and day. So we don't get too cold at night and too hot during the day.

9. Important Because…..A Natural Sunscreen
Earth’s atmosphere helps protect living organisms from some of the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.
- Acts as a barrier almost like a giant bottle of sunscreen
What would happen if the atmosphere did not block some of the ultraviolet rays?

10. Important Because…..Block Master
The atmosphere helps protect Earth’s surface from being struck by meteors.
Most meteors that fall toward Earth enter the atmosphere and burn up before reaching Earth’s surface.
Friction with the atmosphere causes the meteors to burn up – only the very largest meteors make it through and strike earth.

11. How would life on Earth be different if we didn’t have an atmosphere?
Reflection
How would life on Earth be different if we didn’t have an atmosphere?
Must be at least five complete sentences long

12. Key Concepts
1: Why is Earth’s atmosphere important to life on earth? 2: How did Earth’s atmosphere form? 3: What is Earth’s atmosphere made of? 4: What are the layers of Earth’s atmosphere? 5: How do air pressure and temperature change as altitude increases?

13. Vocabulary
Atmosphere Water Vapor Troposphere Stratosphere Ozone Layer Ionosphere
A thin layer of gases that surround earth

14. Origins of the Atmosphere

15. Origins of Atmosphere
1: When Earth formed it was a ball of molten rock. As new Earth cooled, it’s outer surface hardened and gases from inside escaped. Erupting volcanoes emitting hot gases from ancient Earth’s interior surrounded the planet to form an atmosphere.
Ancient Earth’s atmosphere was thought to be water vapor with a little carbon dioxide and nitrogen, but not enough oxygen to support life.
Water vapor: is water in gaseous form

16. Origins of Atmosphere Continued
2. As Earth and its atmosphere cooled, the water vapor condensed into liquid, rain fell, and then evaporated from Earth’s surface over and over again for thousands of years.
Condensation: The process by which a gas changes into a liquid
Precipitation: water in, liquid or sold form that falls from the atmosphere
Evaporation: The process of a liquid changing to a gas from the surface of a liquid
Eventually water began to accumulate on Earth’s surface, forming oceans.

17. Origins of Atmosphere Continued…..Again
3. Earth’s first organisms used dissolved carbon dioxide in the oceans and sunlight to undergo photosynthesis, which changed the atmosphere.
Photosynthesis: is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy, into chemical energy that can be later released to fuel the organisms' activities
The organisms removed CO2 from the atmosphere and released oxygen into it.
Eventually the levels of CO2 and oxygen supported the development of other organisms.

18. Flip Chart

19. Compare and contrast Earth’s ancient atmosphere and todays.
Reflection
Compare and contrast Earth’s ancient atmosphere and todays.
Must be at least five complete sentences long

20. Key Concepts
1: Why is Earth’s atmosphere important to life on earth? 2: How did Earth’s atmosphere form? 3: What is Earth’s atmosphere made of? 4: What are the layers of Earth’s atmosphere? 5: How do air pressure and temperature change as altitude increases?

21. Vocabulary
Atmosphere Water Vapor Troposphere Stratosphere Ozone Layer Ionosphere
A thin layer of gases that surround earth
Water in its gaseous form

22. Composition of the Atmosphere

23. Composition of the Atmosphere
Today’s atmosphere is mostly made up of invisible gases with some solid and liquid particles mixed in.
The atmosphere is made up of mostly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%).
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There are lots of other gases that are part of the atmosphere Together they equal less than 1% of the atmosphere.
These include argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, hydrogen, ozone and more.

25. Composition of the Atmosphere
Solid and Liquid Particles
Earth’s atmosphere also contains tiny solid particles
C. Sherburne/PhotoLink/Getty Images
Earth’s atmosphere also contains liquid particles
- Liquids particles called water droplets form in the atmosphere and are invisible until they come together.
Solids include: pollen, dust, salt, and volcanic ash which enter atmosphere through natural processes.
- Other liquid particles in the atmosphere are called acids. Some form naturally from erupting volcanoes but others form from the burning of fossil fuels.
- Solid particles like exhaust soot from cars are also present in the atmosphere. These enter through human related activities.

26. Please Visit: http://forces.si.edu/Atmosphere/

27. Must be at least five complete sentences long
Reflection
Why is it important to keep the various gases of the atmosphere in balance?
Must be at least five complete sentences long

28. Key Concepts
1: Why is Earth’s atmosphere important to life on earth? 2: How did Earth’s atmosphere form? 3: What is Earth’s atmosphere made of? 4: What are the layers of Earth’s atmosphere? 5: How do air pressure and temperature change as altitude increases?

29. Vocabulary
Atmosphere Water Vapor Troposphere Stratosphere Ozone Layer Ionosphere
A thin layer of gases that surround earth
Water in its gaseous form

30. Layers of the Atmosphere
Earth’s atmosphere has five different layers and is held in place by gravity. There is no exact place where Earth’s atmosphere ends, instead it just gets gradually thinner and thinner (less dense) until it mergers with outer space.
atmosphere layers explained

31. Troposphere Troposphere is the layer closest to the Earth’s surface.
The Troposphere extends from the Earth’s surface to a height of about 8 – 15 km.
Weather develops here
Jet stream occurs here
Air thins with altitude
Temperature decreases with altitude
Warmest part is near Earth’s surface because sunlight that passes through the atmosphere warms the surface of Earth and then the warmth radiates up

32. Stratosphere The stratosphere is the directly above the troposphere.
Extends from about 15 km to about 50 km above Earth’s surface.
Contains the highest concentration of ozone gas forming a layer called the ozone layer.
Unlike the troposphere the stratosphere gets its heat by the ozone layer absorbing radiation from the sun. As a result, it gets warmer the further away you get from the Earth.
Weather balloons go as high as the stratosphere.
Most planes fly here.

33. Why is the ozone layer becoming thinner?
An Ozone molecule is not the same as a molecule of oxygen gas that you breathe.
(O₂)
Oxygen
(O₃)
Ozone
Ozone absorbs the Sun’s ultraviolet rays more effectively than oxygen molecules therefore protecting Earth from the harmful effects of the ultraviolet rays.
Why is the ozone layer becoming thinner?

34. Mesosphere
The mesosphere extends from the stratosphere to about 85 km above the earth.
This is where most meteors burn up upon entry.
The coldest place on Earth is at the top of the mesosphere.

35. Thermosphere
The thermosphere is located directly above the mesosphere.
The thermosphere can extend to 500 km above the Earth.
The air is very thin here and temperatures get extremely hot
Hubble Telescope, International Space Station and most Space shuttles orbit in the thermosphere.

36. Combined, the mesosphere and thermosphere are much broader that the troposphere and stratosphere, however only about 1% of the gas molecules that make up the atmosphere are found in these layers.
Why do you think this is?

37. Ionosphere
The ionosphere is not its own layer, but rather a region within the mesosphere and thermosphere that contains ions.
It’s located between 60 km and 500 km above the Earth’s surface.
Ions in the ionosphere reflect radio waves transmitted from Earth
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38. Auroras Auroras – displays of colored lights, occur in the ionosphere.
Occur when ions from the Sun strike air molecules, causing them to give of bright colors of light.
People at higher latitudes or those nearer to the north and south poles are more likely to see auroras.

39. Exosphere
The exosphere is the layer farthest from the Earth’s surface, and the thinnest layer
The exosphere extends all the way to 10,000 km above the Earth’s surface.
Pressure and density are so low in this layer that individual gas molecules rarely strike one another.
Weather satellites fly within this layer

41. Reflection Name one important fact about each layer of the atmosphere?
Must be at least five complete sentences long

42. Key Concepts
1: Why is Earth’s atmosphere important to life on earth? 2: How did Earth’s atmosphere form? 3: What is Earth’s atmosphere made of? 4: What are the layers of Earth’s atmosphere? 5: How do air pressure and temperature change as altitude increases?

43. Vocabulary
Atmosphere Water Vapor Troposphere Stratosphere Ozone Layer Ionosphere
A thin layer of gases that surround earth
Water in its gaseous form
The layer of Earth’s atmosphere closest to Earth’s surface.
The atmospheric layer directly above the troposphere.
The area of the stratosphere with a high concentration of ozone.
A region within the mesosphere and thermosphere that contains ions.

44. Temperature and Altitude within the layers of Atmosphere

45. Layers of the Atmosphere
Space
Exosphere
Thermosphere
Mesosphere
Stratosphere (Ozone Layer)
Troposphere (Weather, Life)
Earth’s Surface

46. Review

47. Atmospheric Gases Nitrogen & Oxygen
These are the two most common gases found in the atmosphere.
They can be found throughout all the layers.
Ozone
Ozone is a form of oxygen
It is only found in the stratosphere
Water Vapor & Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
These are important gases for weather conditions.
They are found in the troposphere where weather occurs.

48. Atmospheric Temperatures
Differences in temperature are what separate each layer in the atmosphere from the one above and/or below it.

49. Atmospheric Temperatures
In the troposphere:
As altitude increases, temperature decreases
Altitude Temperature

50. Atmospheric Temperatures
In the stratosphere:
The stratosphere is cold except in its upper region where ozone is located.
Altitude Temperature
Ozone Layer

51. Atmospheric Temperatures
In the Mesosphere:
This is the COLDEST layer in the atmosphere.
Altitude Temperature

52. Atmospheric Temperatures
In the thermosphere:
Even though the air is thin in the thermosphere, it is very HOT.
Altitude Temperature

53. Atmospheric Temperatures
Altitude Temperature
In the Exosphere:
it is very cold, because there is little to no atmosphere to absorb the Sun’s heat energy.

54. Atmospheric Temperatures
Temperature Altitude
Outer Space
Exosphere
Thermosphere
Mesosphere
Stratosphere
Troposphere
Earth’s Surface

56. Atmospheric Pressure
Air pressure is the force exerted by the gases pushing on an object.
Gravity pulls the atmosphere toward Earth, creating air pressure.
Air pressure is greatest near the surface of the Earth (in the troposphere) because gravity’s pull on air increases its density.
Altitude Air Pressure

57. Freefall from the stratosphere
Daredevil Felix Baumgartner has broken the record for highest-ever sky dive, and also became the first man to intentionally break the sound barrier after jumping from a capsule positioned in the stratosphere -- nearly 39 kilometers in the air