1. Earth’s
Atmosphere

2. What is the Earth's atmosphere?
A thin layer of air that forms a protective covering around the planet.

3. Why is the atmosphere so important to us?
Helps maintain a balance between the amount of heat absorbed from the Sun and the amount of heat that escapes back into space.
The days would be extremely hot, and the nights would be extremely cold.
Protects life-forms from some of the Sun’s harmful rays.

4. What makes up the Atmosphere?

5. What makes up the atmosphere?

6. Where is it found?
It begins ______________________ and ends in _________________________.
Earth’s surface
outer space

7. Gases in the atmosphere...
Nitrogen
78%
Oxygen
21%
How much Nitrogen is in the atmosphere compared to Oxygen? (Answer: More than 3x’s the amount) 1%
Trace
Gasses

8. Other particles that are in the atmosphere
Dust
Salt
Pollen

9. How do the solids get in the atmosphere?
Dust: dust storms, wind blowing
Salt: Spray form the ocean water
Pollen: from plants

10. What types of liquids are in the atmosphere?
Droplets other than water!
Where do they come from? When a volcano erupts, liquids are released.
For example: Sulfuric acid can produce spectacular sunsets!

11. Layers of the Atmosphere

12. How many layers are there in the Earth's atmosphere?
The atmosphere is made up of 4 main layers
- Troposphere
- Stratosphere
- Mesosphere
- Thermosphere

13. The lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere...
What is unique about
the troposphere
study
It is where we…
sleep
play
eat
The lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere...
Contains 99% of the water vapor &
75% of the atmospheric gases.
Rain, snow, and clouds occur here.

14. Where is the Stratosphere?
Located above the troposphere!
It contains the ozone layer, which is
O + O + O = O3 (Ozone).

15. Why is the Ozone layer important?
Protects us from harmful rays from the sun, by absorbing most of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation—one type of energy that comes from the sun that causes damage to skin and causes cancer.

16. endangering our future!
What is causing damage
to our ozone layer...
endangering our future!

17. Caution! Dangerous Pollutants!
Smog
CFC's

18. What are CFCs?
Chemical compounds used in refrigerators, air conditioners, aerosol spray cans & the making of foam packaging materials (like packing peanuts)

19. How do they destroy the ozone layer?
They break the ozone molecule apart causing them to change into new compounds that don’t block UV radiation, so more radiation reaches Earth.

20. Over which continent was a big hole in the ozone layer found???
Antarctica!

21. What are the upper layers
of the atmosphere?
Mesosphere
Shooting stars are found here as meteors move through this layer
Remember when we discussed meteors, meteorites, and meteroids? What was a shooting star called? (Answer: meteor) If you have ever seen a shooting star, you might have witnessed a meteor in the mesosphere.
The thermosphere is named for its high temperatures, and is the thickest atmospheric layer.
In between the mesosphere and the thermosphere is a layer of electrically charges particles called the ionosphere. It is the Ionosphere that allows for radio waves to travel to other cities across the country.
The space shuttle orbits Earth in the exosphere. Beyond the exosphere is outer space.

22. What are the upper layers
of the atmosphere?
Thermosphere
(high temps)
The thickest layer
Made up of 2 areas:
Ionosphere
Exosphere
Remember when we discussed meteors, meteorites, and meteroids? What was a shooting star called? (Answer: meteor) If you have ever seen a shooting star, you might have witnessed a meteor in the mesosphere.
The thermosphere is named for its high temperatures, and is the thickest atmospheric layer.
In between the mesosphere and the thermosphere is a layer of electrically charges particles called the ionosphere. It is the Ionosphere that allows for radio waves to travel to other cities across the country.
The space shuttle orbits Earth in the exosphere. Beyond the exosphere is outer space.

23. Ionosphere
Electrically charged particles allow radio waves to travel to other cities mostly at night, so you can hear radio stations from other cities in our country.

24. What are the upper layers
of the atmosphere?
Exosphere
Beyond the exosphere is outer space.
Due to few molecules in this layer, the space shuttle maneuvered through this layer using only rocket thrusters because the wings are useless.
Remember when we discussed meteors, meteorites, and meteroids? What was a shooting star called? (Answer: meteor) If you have ever seen a shooting star, you might have witnessed a meteor in the mesosphere.
The thermosphere is named for its high temperatures, and is the thickest atmospheric layer.
In between the mesosphere and the thermosphere is a layer of electrically charges particles called the ionosphere. It is the Ionosphere that allows for radio waves to travel to other cities across the country.
The space shuttle orbits Earth in the exosphere. Beyond the exosphere is outer space.

25. Air pressure is the force pressing down on earth’s surface.
Atmospheric Pressure
Air pressure is the force pressing down on earth’s surface.

26. What factors influence
atmospheric pressure?
1. Earth's gravity
2. Distance from
Earth's surface

27. The closer the atmospheric gases are to the Earth, the greater the pressure or force.

28. Which football player feels greater pressure?
The football player at the bottom of the pile feels greater pressure because he is closer to the earth’s surface, and the player on top is farther away from the earth’s surface (gravity is pulling harder on him than on the player at the top of the pile). Just like the gas molecules are closer together near the earth’s surface and have greater pressure than the molecules farther away from the surface.
Where is air pressure greater – in the exosphere or the troposphere? (Answer: troposphere)
Why???

29. Draw and label a diagram of the layers of Earth’s atmosphere using page 405 in the textbook.