“Layers of the Atmosphere Review Model”
Part 1: Earth. (Styrofoam Bowl) You will create a model of the earth by using a Styrofoam bowl. While explaining what the atmosphere is and its importance in your own words. Follow the following directions for full credit:
❏ Use the color blue to represent water and green/brown to represent land.
❏ Write your name/period/date on the inside of your Styrofoam bowl.
❏ After you have drawn and colored the bowl to look like the earth, go back and write 3 reasons why the atmosphere is important to us on the bowl. You can put this wherever you would like on the sides of the bowl.
❏ Then you are going to another section of the bowl to write a short definition of the atmosphere in your own words.
MAKE SURE IT IS NEAT AND LEGIBLE. Therefore, on one side you should have a short bulleted list of why we need the atmosphere and the other side has your short definition. MAKE SURE YOU DON'T RUN THE 2
REQUIREMENTS INTO EACH OTHER. They need to be neat and separate and on different sides of each other.
❏ On the top of the bowl/earth, write down the percentages of the top 4 gases that make up our atmosphere (one side put the top 2 gases and the other side put the remaining 2 gases and make sure it is labeled with a number so we can see which one is #1, #2, #3, and #4).
Part 2: Diagram. (One side of the Notecard/Popsicle Stick) You will create a diagram of Earth’s atmosphere by drawing and labeling each layer (this does not need to be to scale). These are the things that must be included in your drawing to receive full credit:
❏ Each Layer should have a title/name. (Each of the 6 Layers names should be named and printed neatly).
❏ The ozone layer should be identified/labeled/explained/and colored. Also, the pauses should be labeled.
❏ The elevations of each layer (the height where each layer begins and ends) should be labeled.
❏ 3 unique characteristic of each layer (1 drawing and 2 characteristics or 2 drawings and 1 characteristic). For example: Planes fly only in the ______sphere and then draw weather occurring.
❏ Each layer and drawing should be colored.
Part 3: Altitude and Temperature Scale. (One side of the Notecard/Popsicle Stick). You will create a Scales of the
Earth’s atmosphere by drawing each layer to scale and creating a way to show what is happening to the temperature as altitude increases. These are the things that must be included in your scale to receive full credit:
❏ Each layer (6) should be drawn to scale with the proper distances between them.
❏ As altitude increases within each layer you must explain to me in your own way what happens to the temperature.
❏ Within each layer draw a line that represents what the temperature looks like in each layer as altitude increases.
(Like a graphing line from your graphing lab).
❏ Air pressure and density of air in each layer
❏ Each layer should be colored either blue (for getting colder) or red (for getting warmer).
When you are finished with your Layers Model you are to complete the story assignment below to go with your model.
❏ On a separate piece of paper, in final draft form, with a proper heading, do the following. Imagine your random item has been launched in such a way that it will travel through all the layers of the earth’s atmosphere. Tell how this random item would be impacted by or what it might see on its journey through the layers of the atmosphere. You may write this explanation as a multiple paragraph composition, as a table, as a story, or as a diary. A short example of what you might do for the first layer is shown below.
Dear Diary,
EXAMPLE: Diary of a Space Traveling Orange
November, 18, 2015, 7:45 am
After a comfortable night’s rest in a bowl of fruit, I was rudely awakened by Mad Scientist Sharkey. After some shuffling around and confusion, I was placed into a bizarre contraption and launched forcefully into the atmosphere. I am now entering the top of the first layer of the earth’s atmosphere: the troposphere. The clouds made the journey blind, and the temperature grows increasingly colder. I had to dodge a few geese and as I prepare to enter the stratosphere, I must be aware of high-flying airplanes.