Stacking up the Atmosphere ELF Activity: Atmosphere 5A

Teacher’s Note After leading your students in building the layers of the atmosphere with tennis ball cans, show them the following three slides to help them understand the scale of each layer.

To make a scale model of the atmosphere using tennis ball cans we would need 1000 cans. To show what this would look like we use the Washington monument as a backdrop. We start our project at the flags around the monument. Activity Instructions Image:

Stacking the cans along the flag pole you can see the first three layers of the atmosphere are very small compared to the rest. One can = the troposphere, you can see it in blue at base of the flag pole. This small layer is the layer we live in. Three cans = the stratosphere, in the picture, they are yellow. Four cans = the mesosphere, you see them in red.

To continue the scale model, we add 42 cans to represent the thermosphere, shown here in green, and then 950 cans for the exosphere, shown in white, and we still need 111 feet over the top of the monument to complete the model. Image:

Atmosphere Mixture of nitrogen (N 2 ), oxygen (O 2 ) and trace gases that include water vapor (H 2 O), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and others Has different properties at different elevations Protects our Earth from harmful radiation both from the Sun and outer space

Atmosphere Composition The lower atmosphere, (troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere), is made of these gases. Image: The “Others” In the dry atmosphere: (Argon) Ar =.93% (Carbon Dioxide) CO 2 =.035% (Neon) Ne =.002% Trace gases: (Hydrogen) H 2 (Helium)He (Krypton) Kr (Methane) CH 4

These are some of the vehicles scientists use to carry instruments into the atmosphere Satellite Aircraft Balloons Rockets

Images: Troposphere Large anvil-shaped clouds flatten as they reach the stratosphere, where the air becomes colder and the rising stops.

Troposphere most of the weather takes place here Images: Hurricanes Tornadoes Thunderstorms with lightning Snow storms

Jet Streams steer currents of air masses around the globe and serve as boundaries for differences in temperature. In the northern latitudes, the Mid- Latitude Jet Stream is usually responsible for weather in the U.S. There are similar jet streams in the southern latitudes.

The Ozone (O 3 ) layer protects us from UV radiation. Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) are know to harm the ozone molecules. Thinning of ozone layer over Antarctica, October 2009 Ozone Layer

Image: photolibrary.usap.gov Stratosphere Nacreous Clouds These high elevation clouds are formed in very cold polar regions. Nacreous clouds in the stratosphere over Antarctica

Blue Jets Image: Red sprites Mesosphere These remarkable events are associated with thunderstorms but are rarely seen.

Image: In this image, the label ‘Ionosphere’ represents a region that includes the upper mesosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere. A diagram of where blue jets, red sprites and ELVES occur Ionosphere

Image: Composite view of one night in Georgia, 09/11/2010 When meteors enter our atmosphere, they burn up displaying a tail of light. Many people call them “shooting stars,” but they are bits of rock from outer space. Mesosphere

The Sun has an activity cycle of about 11 years. When the Sun is active, more radiation is given off which hits the Earth influencing the atmosphere in many ways. Active areas of our Sun, 05/19/2011 Solar Activity

Thermosphere The auroras are formed near the polar regions when ionized particles in the atmosphere interact with the Earth’s magnetic poles. Aurora as seen from the ground In the image below you can see the ring of auroras around the south magnetic pole. Similar rings are found around the north magnetic pole.

Polar orbiting satellites Exosphere Many satellites orbit in this layer of the atmosphere. There are very few particles present in this layer, so satellites orbit without the drag or friction found in the lower layers.

RADIO TRANSMISSION RADIO RECEIVER Long range radio waves (blue and red waves) bounce off the ionosphere to reach the receiver. Without this bounce the radio raves would leave the atmosphere (green waves) or follow in a straight line along the ground (purple) and never reach the receiver. Radio Waves in the Atmosphere

Image: Each layer of the atmosphere is defined by a change in the temperature. Temperature in the Atmospheric Layers

This material is based on work supported by an Environmental Literacy Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Education (NA09SEC ) and prior work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants ANT and ESI Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the National Science Foundation.