https://newsela.com/read/lib-nasa-atmosphere-layers/id/35412/
Name ________________________
NEWSELA “Earth’s Atmosphere: A Jacket for the Planet”
Use the article to help you label the four innermost layers of the atmosphere on the graph /
diagram below. Use the graphs and the article to help you answer the questions.
Temperature vs. Altitude
1. As you go higher in the troposphere, what
happens to the temperature?
2. As you go higher in the stratosphere, what
happens to the temperature?
3. As you go higher in the mesosphere, what
happens to the temperature?
4. As you go higher in the thermosphere, what
happens to the temperature?
5. Which layer is missing? (outermost)
6. Which layer includes the ozone layer?
7. The ozone layer helps protect the surface of the earth (and living things) from what kind of radiation?
8. Most meteors will break up and burn away in which layer?
9. Which layer is where all weather occurs?
10. Use the graph above to calculate the thickness of each layer in kilometers and in miles. The graph
doesn’t go high enough to show the top of the thermosphere, so that value is filled in for you:
Layer
Thickness in kilometers
Thickness in miles
Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
750km - ______=
770mi - ______=
Air Pressure vs Altitude
11. C
​ OMPARE​: State one similarity
between this graph and the Temperature vs
Altitude graph.
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12. C
​ ONTRAST​: State ​at least​ three
differences between the two graphs.
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13. ​SYNTHESIZE​: Which layers of the atmosphere are shown in the pressure vs altitude graph? (Hint:
compare it to the labels on the temperature vs. altitude graph)
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14. ​INFER​: Which layer of the atmosphere has the most dense air?___________________________
15. ​INFER​: Which layer of the atmosphere has the least dense air? ___________________________
16. I​ NTERPRET the graph​: Which layer of the atmosphere has the highest temperatures?
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17. ​READING COMPREHENSION​: How does the article explain why the hottest temperatures in the
atmosphere would NOT burn you?
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