Title:
Layers of the Atmosphere Online Activity
Name _______________________________ Hr ____
http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/virtual_labs/ES14/ES14.html
Problem:
How does temperature, air pressure, and the density of the air change among the layers of the atmosphere?
Hypothesis:
Temp.-_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Press.-_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Density-____________________________________________________________________________________________
Objective:
To describe (click here to learn) the structure of the Earth’s atmosphere and the phenomena that occur in each layer.
Procedures: After formulating a hypothesis….
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Data Table:
Launch
#
Click here or the website in the title above to boot up the Layers of the Atmosphere Interactive activity.
Read aloud about the atm. Layers scrolling through the online information on the left side of the screen.
Record the atmospheric data (density, pressure, and temp.) for sea level, 0 km, in the data table below.
Drag the red slider (
) up and choose the next altitude listed in the data table.
Click the Launch button to send the balloon or rocket up to collect atmospheric data.
Record the new atmospheric data from the bottom of the screen into the data table.
If the Show Phenomenon button becomes enabled, click to learn what else occurs at that level.
Repeat the exploration for each of the ten other altitudes.
Troposphere = 0-10 km
Then Graph the data. The first two data points have been graphed. Be prepared to go off the scale.
Stratosphere = 11-50 km
Complete the Analysis and Conclusion questions.
Mesosphere = 51-80 km
Thermoshpere = 81-500 km
Altitude
in Km
1
0
2
5
3
10
4
25
5
50
6
60
7
75
8
100
9
150
10
200
11
400
Density as a
% of sea level
Pressure
in Pa.
Temp.
In 0C
What atm. layer
is at this altitude?
Phenomena found present
in this layer
Graph:
Altitude v. Pressure
Altitude v. Temperature
600
600
Alt. (km)
Alt. (km)
80
80
50
50
25
25
16
16
10
10
5
5
Sea level=0
0=sea level
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20
0
20 40
60
80 100 120 140 160
0.000000001 .00000001 .0000001 .000001 .00001 .0001 .001 .01 0.1 1.0 10 100 1000 10000 100000
Pressure ( Pa.)
Temp. ( 0C )
Analysis and Conclusions:
1.
Which layer of the atmosphere do we live in? ________________________
What meteorological phenomena can be found in this layer? ________________________________________________________
2.
If a rocket were launched to a height of 210 km, which layer of the atmosphere would it rise to? ____________________________
What meteorological phenomena can be found in this layer? ________________________________________________________
3.
Where is the ozone layer and what is ozone? In the ________________ It is___________________________________________
4.
Why is the ozone layer (click here) important to life on Earth? ___________________________________________________________
5.
Describe the relationship between air density and air pressure changes throughout the atmosphere. ________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6.
Describe the pattern of air temperature change with altitude. _______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7.
Why does the temperature change (click here) among the layers of the atmosphere? ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________