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Earths Spheres

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The Earths Spheres

When you think of Earth science, what comes to mind?In what ways have you learned about or experienced any part of the Earth in the past?Think of the last time you were outside in the natural world. What things did you notice?

Begin class by inviting students to share their answers to questions 1 and 2. If they struggled to come up with answers, prompt them to think of natural events that they may have heard about in the news, like a flood or an earthquake, an experience they may have had in nature, such as a field trip or a hike in the woods, or content they may have encountered in another class. Turn to question 3 and ask students to share their responses. As they do, write them on the board. Once 15-20 things are listed, ask students to look at the responses and think about whether they can be grouped or categorized. Students will likely group living things together (animals, plants, etc.), and will probably make a group with water-related items (lake, river, rain, etc.). Guide students to also notice the things that are related to the air around them, such as wind, clouds, and storms, and also things that are below their feet, such as soil, sand, and rocks. Using these four groups, create a classroom definition for each of the four categories: rock, water, air, and life. Explain that these are the earths four spheres or systems, and that they are called the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, respectively.

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The Earth is a complex system of interacting rock, water, air and life

3- The Earth consists of 4 spheresThe spheres are continually changing, and the changes involve the cycling of matter with energy from the Sun and from the Earths interior

They are continually changingChange in 1 sphere can cause changes in others in surprising and unexpected waysChanges can be explained by universal lawsBy understanding these laws we can apply them to our local environment

GEOSPHERE

4MATTER: rocks, minerals, soil, lava/magma, materials in internal layers. ENERGY SOURCE: Earths internal heat

The geosphere is that portion of the Earth system that includes the Earths interior, rocks, minerals, soil, landforms and the processes that shapethe Earths surface. We dig in it, use it to grow our food, and use its minerals everyday.

Almost all of our direct knowledge of the Earth's interior is from the upper 10 km. Our knowledge of the remaining 6,300 km is based largely on indirect evidence from seismology, laboratory studies of igneous and metamorphic rocks, computer models and meteorites.

HYDROSPHERE

5MATTER: water (in gaseous, liquid, and solid forms)ENERGY SOURCE: Suns energy

Thehydrosphereincludes all the earth's water found in the oceans, glaciers, streams, lakes, the soil, groundwater, and in the air. The water cycletraces the movement of water and energy between these various stores and spheres.

Liquidwater makes the Earth a special place. Our planet has a very nice temperature range that allows water to remain in its liquid state. If we were a colder object like Pluto, it would not matter how much water there was on the planet; it would all be frozen. On the other hand, if we were on a very hot planet, all of the water would be in a gaseous state.Water vaporand solid water are useless to the living organisms found on Earth.

ATMOSPHERE

6MATTER: airENERGY SOURCE: Suns energy

Theatmosphere is a layer ofgasessurrounding the Earththat is retained by Earth'sgravity. The atmosphereprotects life on Earthby absorbingultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes between day and night(the diurnal temperature variation). The atmosphere changing over time and space gives rise to weather and climate..

Dry air contains roughly (by volume) 78.09%Nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93%argon, 0.039%carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases. Air also contains a variable amount of water vapor, on average around 1%. While air content and atmospheric pressurevaries at different layers, air suitable for the survival ofterrestrial plants and animalsis currently only known to be found in Earth'stroposphere.

BIOSPHERE

7MATTER: living or once-living organismsENERGY SOURCE: Suns energy, Earths internal heat

Ourbiosphereis the global sum of allecosystems. It can also be called the zone of lifeonEarth, a closed (apart from solar and cosmic radiation) and self-regulating system.From the broadestpoint of view, the biosphere is the globalecologicalsystem integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

Earths Interconnected Spheres

Biosphere

Geosphere

Hydrosphere

Atmosphere

As a class, place all the items on the board next to one of the four spheres. Students may find that some responses do not fit neatly into a single sphere, but rather seem to belong in more than one. Storms, for instance, can be thought of as both an atmospheric phenomenon as well as part of the water cycle, and so belongs in both the atmosphere and hydrosphere. Allow students time to struggle with categorizing items such as this, making sure they share their reasoning for placing it in one sphere or another. The reason why its sometimes difficult to classify items is that the Earth is not just a collection of things, sitting there doing nothing. These spheres are actually always interacting with one another (add arrows)Give students an example of an event where two spheres interact, such as a tree is blown down by wind, and ask them which spheres are interacting. As they reply, draw an arrow between the atmosphere and the biosphere and label it with the event. Point out that sphere interactions such as this one have a cause-and-effect relationship: movement of air in the atmosphere (wind) causes an organism in the biosphere (tree) to fall. Tell students to think of at least three examples in which two spheres interact, and to draw and label that interaction in the spheres diagram in their student worksheet. Next, ask students to pair up and share one of their interactions with that partner. Students should listen to their partners interaction and draw and label it in their diagram. Ask a few students to share an interaction they discussed, identifying the spheres connected by the interaction, as well as the cause and effect of the event.Have students find a different partner and repeat the process of steps 6-7. As students work in pairs, walk around the classroom and prompt them to make sure that their interactions do not leave out any of the spheres. Repeat the pairing up and sharing process a few more times to ensure that a variety of interactions are identified. Have students return to their seats and create a classroom spheres diagram with examples shared by the students. Emphasize the cause-and-effect relationships in each example, and the idea that spheres are connected when natural events occur.

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APPLY

Students need an opportunity to deepen and solidify their understanding after the Develop Concept phase byPracticing the concept in a straightforward wayApplying freshly constructed concept to novel situations

* No matter how well students may appear to understand a new concept after concept development phase, they wont shift their understanding to long-term memory if they arent given the opportunity to practice and apply the concept in a thoughtful way. This also allows them to make connections to other knowledge they have.

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Typical Combined Sewer System

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System Interactions

Biosphere

Geosphere

Hydrosphere

Atmosphere

EVENT:Sewage Overflow During Storm

Now that students have a working definition of each of the spheres and the understanding that spheres interact with each other because of natural events, they will apply it to a real-world event in the Great Lakes Region. Ask students to think of the last time they were outside when it was raining. What happened to the water that fell on the sidewalk and the road? Where did that water go? Next, ask students what they think happens to the water and waste that they flush down the toilet? Where does that water go?Explain that in many cities across the Great Lakes, such as Chicago and Milwaukee, there is a combined sewer system, which means that the water that is collected during a rainstorm and the waste water collected in homes and businesses is taken to a treatment plant using a single pipe system. Tell students that most of the time this system works well, but during storms that produce heavy rainfall, the combined volume of waste water and storm water is too great and the system overflows, dumping the storm and sewer water into area rivers and lakes. Show students the Lake Michigan Storm Sewer Overflow video. After they see the video, ask students to identify some of the things they heard that belong to a sphere. Answers will vary, but students will likely identify rain, storm water, and sewage for the hydrosphere, viruses and bacteria for the biosphere, beaches and coasts for the geosphere, and storms and weather for the atmosphere.Ask students to write storm sewage overflow in the event oval in their student worksheet. Explain that you will show them the video again, and this time you want them to look for and record ways in which the event affected each of the spheres, and ways in which the spheres affected each other. Tell students to focus on the following guiding questions to help them find these connections:After they watch the video again, ask students to share the effects of the event on each of the spheres (add arrows), and the effects on spheres on one another (add arrows). As students do this, record their answers on the board by drawing and labeling arrows connecting the event and the spheres. If students become stuck trying to describe a particular connection, refer to the guiding questions to describe the changes taking place. Once the connections have been identified and labeled, it is time to look for cause-and effect relationships in the descriptions. Using the descriptions on the board ask students to find words that reflect a change, such as affects, changes, causes, increases, decreases, impacts, and makes. Using these words as connectors between cause and effect, have students work in pairs to find the cause and effect in each of the connections in their diagram. As a class, identify the cause and effect portions of each of the statements in the diagram by underlining the cause in one color and the effect in another color. For instance, a connecting phrase between the hydrosphere and biosphere may be sewage overflows during storms add bacteria to Lake Michigan. In this statement the cause is the sewage overflows during storms and the effect is adding bacteria to Lake Michigan.

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