1. In the Beginning...

2.  The biosphere is all about life.  Physical geographers use the term biosphere to describe our living world.  This is where all of the trees, bugs, and animals live.  The biosphere is the biggest biological system and consists of smaller functional units known as ecosystems.

3.  The biosphere extends to the upper areas of the atmosphere where birds and insects can be found.  It also reaches deep into the ground at a dark cave or to the bottom of the ocean at hydrothermal vents.  All in all, The biosphere extends to any place that life (of any kind) can exist on Earth.

4.  Do we live in the biosphere?  So where airplanes fly is that the biosphere?

5.  The biosphere is the one place where all of the other spheres of the planet work together.  Think about the interactions for a second. The land interacts with the water (hydrosphere). The land interacts with the air (atmosphere).

6.  Many factors affect the biosphere and our life here on Earth.  There are large factors, small factors and even smaller ones.

7.  The distance between the Earth and the Sun. If our planet were closer to the Sun, it might be too hot to support life.  If we were further away, it might be too cold.  Even the tilt of the Earth is important. Seasons and seasonal climate changes are direct results of the tilt of the Earth towards or away from the Sun.

8.  Smaller factors are also act on the biosphere such as climate, daily weather, and erosion.  These smaller factors change the land and the organisms must react accordingly.  Even though humans are able to control their environment, they are still vulnerable to weather and earthquakes.

9.  The smallest of factors in the biosphere work on a molecular level.  Chemical erosion is a great example of a landscape changing one molecule at a time.  It's not just chemistry at work on the molecular level.  Tiny organisms such as bacteria and single- celled organisms are constantly working to break down materials and change the world.