The Spheres of the Earth Notes
Everything in Earth's system can be placed into one of four major subsystems:
land, water, living things, or air. These four subsystems are called "spheres."
Geosphere (geo = Greek word for ground/earth): The geosphere includes the
Earth's interior, soil, sand, rocks and minerals, landforms like mountains and the
processes that shape the Earth's surface, such as erosion and plate tectonics.
Hydrosphere (hydro = Greek word for water): The hydrosphere includes the
oceans, seas, glaciers, lakes, groundwater, rivers, and streams. The hydrosphere
covers about 70% of the surface of the Earth and is home to many plants and
animals.
Biosphere (bio = Greek word for life/living things): The biosphere includes all
living components of the Earth (humans, plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, protists,
and all microscopic organisms on land, in the air and in the oceans). It also includes
all organic matter that has not yet decomposed.
Atmosphere (atmo = Greek word for air): The atmosphere is the blanket of
gases which surrounds Earth. The atmosphere is made of water vapor (quantities
vary depending on temperature), 78 % nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and
0.03% carbon dioxide.
The surface of the geosphere, where the rocky part of our planet is in contact
with water, air, and/or life is generally where the spheres intersect and affect
each other.
Sphere interactions: The processes that move matter and energy from one
sphere to another.
Examples of sphere interactions:
●
●
●
Wind (atmosphere) can carry seeds (biosphere) to new places so more plants
can grow.
Air temperature (atmosphere) impacts the evaporation of the oceans
(hydrosphere).
Water (hydrosphere) erodes the land, bringing nutrients to lakes
(hydrosphere)
Spheres of the Earth Practice
1. The four spheres of the earth are:
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
2. Sort the following into the right sphere:
Carbon dioxide, mountains, trees, birds, oceans, nitrogen, rocks, glaciers, sand, grass, humans, clouds, oxygen, lakes, soil,
bacteria, rivers, argon
Geosphere:
Hydrosphere:
Atmosphere:
Biosphere:
3. Fill in the blanks with the name of the correct sphere and draw your own picture of the sphere in the empty box.
4. What do the following Greek words mean?
a. Geo =
b. Bio =
c. Hydro =
d. Atmo =
5. Give your own 2 examples of interactions between the spheres.
1.
2.
Esferas de la Tierra Practica
1. Las 4 esferas de la Tierra son:
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
2. Clasifica lo siguiente en la esfera correcta:
Dióxido de carbono, montañas, árboles, pájaros, océanos, nitrógeno, rocas, glaciares, arena, hierba, seres humanos,
nubes, oxígeno, lagos, suelo, bacterias, ríos, argón.
Geosfera:
Hidrosfera:
Atmosfera:
Biosfera:
3. Llena los espacios en blanco con el nombre de la esfera correcta y dibuja tu propia imagen en la caja vacía.
4. Que significan las siguientes palabras?
a. Geo =
b. Bio =
c. Hidro =
d. Atmo =
5. Da 2 de tus propios ejemplos de interacciones entre las esferas de la Tierra.
1.
2.