The Atmosphere Chapter 7

Atmosphere Immediate layer of air that envelopes Earth Made up of gases, essential to life The gases: Acts as a screen, blocking out UV rays and other dangerous rays from the sun Allow for heat retention Include Oxygen (cellular respiration) and Carbon Dioxide (photosynthesis)

Composition of Air There are many different types of gasses in the atmosphere They include nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and other noble gasses The gas that is most abundant is nitrogen

Draw a picture of what you think the atmosphere looks like Show slide show called "Layers“. Lead the student into using their imaginations to come up with a what they think.

My Picture Bun Mayonnaise Lettuce Tomato Hamburger Bun The typical hamburger might look like this: bun, hamburger meat, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise and bun. Hamburger Bun

Layers Today we will study atmospheric layers and we will see that the atmosphere is in layers much like the layers on a hamburger. Atmosphere-

Layers of the atmosphere There are 4 layers in the atmosphere They are the troposphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and stratosphere

Exosphere Thermosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere Troposphere Earth Name The Different Layers as they come in, also explain that the Exosphere is not really a layer but is the beginning of outer space. Troposphere Earth

Troposphere 0-15 km Cloud formation Storm activity Higher the altitude, the lower the temperature Every 1000m the temperature drops 6.5o C

Stratosphere This layer sits on top of the troposphere This layer contains the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful sunlight

Stratosphere 15-50 km UV rays absorbed Contains the ozone layer, presence of ozone gas Temperature increase with altitude Air particles are increasingly rare

Mesosphere 50-80 km Coldest layer of our atmosphere As altitude increases temperatures decrease Temperatures hover -80o C Human would survive merely minutues due to lack of air particles

Thermosphere This is the highest layer of the atmosphere It’s height ranges from 100 to 400 km This is where most small meteorites burn up and is also the location in the atmosphere that the northern lights occur (aurora borealis)

Thermosphere 80-500 km Absorbs the majority of the suns rays Hottest layer of the atmosphere, temperatures as high as 1800o C Celestial bodies(meteors) that come in contact with thermosphere burn rapidly Shooting stars Polar auroras usually form this layer