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Name: __________________________________ Date: ______________ Class: ____________________________ Partner: ____________ LAB: Earth’s Spheres - Interpreting Charts and Graphs Introduction: The Earth is composed of a series of spheres held together by gravity and thus arranged from lowest to highest density moving towards Earth’s center. The outer “spheres” consist of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Earth’s interior consists of many layers as well, including the crust, asthenosphere, mantle, outer core, and inner core. Purpose: You will be able to identify and describe the various spheres and layers of the Earth from charts, graphs and tables found in the reference tables. Materials: reference tables, colored pencils or crayons Procedure: A. Earth Spheres 1. Atmosphere - The atmosphere is not very deep when compared to the radius of the Earth. About 99.9% of the atmosphere is within 30 miles of the Earth’s surface. Nevertheless, there are some atmospheric gases out to distances of several hundred miles. The atmosphere has been divide into a number of layers, depending on the air temperature: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. In the troposphere and mesosphere, the temperature decreases with height. In the stratosphere, the temperature is either constant or increases slowly with height. In the thermosphere, the temperature increases rapidly with height. At about 350 miles, the atmosphere becomes the exosphere or outer space. a. Use your reference table diagram on page 14 to fill in the characteristics of the atmosphere in Chart A that follows: Chart A Layer Altitude Temperature Temperature Water (km) (ºC) Change Vapor From Troposphere Stratosphere Mesosphere Thermosphere To From To Increase/decrease Yes/No Pressure Increase/decrease b. Figure 1 shows the variations of temperature with altitude in the Earth’s atmosphere. Those levels at which the temperature lapse rate changes sign separate the atmosphere into four layers. The lowest separating layer is the tropopause, then the stratopause, etc. Label these levels on the drawing that follows. c. Labels the various layers - troposphere, etc. Use your reference tables for the necessary information d. In the upper atmosphere, about 30 km., there is a layer of ozone gas. It strongly absorbs ultraviolet radiation. This causes a warming of the middle layer of the atmosphere, but prevents most harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth. Ultraviolet radiation has been shown to cause skin cancers and plant cancers. Label “ozone” in the layer in which it belongs. e. Draw an “X” in the layer where commercial airplanes fly to avoid storms. Figure 1 Altitude (km) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 2. Hydrosphere - The hydrosphere is the layer of liquid water and solid ice that lies between the atmosphere and much of the upper layer of the Earth’s interior. The hydrosphere consists of the oceans, which cover about 70% of Earth’s surface, and other bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, streams, and the polar ice caps. The hydrosphere is relatively thin, averaging only 3.8 kilometers in thickness. 3. Lithosphere - The layer of rock that forms the solid outer shell of the Earth is the lithosphere. The lithosphere lies directly beneath the atmosphere or the hydrosphere and is approximately 100 km. thick The upper portion of the lithosphere is called the crust and the bottom portion is the top of the asthenosphere. a. Use the chart in your reference tables on page 1 to compare the chemical composition of the hydrosphere to the atmosphere, and the crust. Use colored pencils/crayons/markers to complete graphs A, B, and C for each Earth sphere. Graph A Hydrosphere Composition Graph A - On the pie graph and the bar graph below, graph the percentage of elements in the earth’s hydrosphere. On the graphs, label the elements and color the hydrogen black, the oxygen blue, and the other elements green. Pie Graph Bar Graph Hydrogen Oxygen Other Graph B Atmosphere Composition Graph B - On the pie graph and the bar graph below, graph the percentage of elements in the earth’s atmosphere (troposphere). On the graphs, label the elements and color the nitrogen red, the oxygen blue, and the other elements green. Pie Graph Bar Graph Nitrogen Oxygen Other Graph C Crust Composition (% by mass) Graph C - On the pie graph and the bar graph below, graph the percentage of elements in the earth’s lithosphere. On the graphs, label the elements and color the silicon yellow, the oxygen blue, and the other elements green. Pie Graph Bar Graph Silicon Oxygen Other B. Earth’s Interior The region extending from the rocky part of the Earth’s surface to Earth’s center is called Earth’s interior. The center of the Earth is very hot because of all the pressure on it. The deeper it is, the hotter it gets. Rocks that are 100 km. deep or so are melted. Metals like iron, silver, tin, and gold are melted too. The pressure near the center of the Earth is so great that metal is hot enough to be melted is pressed into a solid state in spite of its heat. a. Use the reference table chart on page 10 to label the name of each layer of the Earth in Figure 2 below. b. Color each layer as indicated. c. Complete the missing information in Chart B. Figure 2 Color the solid metal BLACK Color the liquid metal RED Color the hot solid rock ORANGE Color the plastic-like rock YELLOW Color the crust BROWN Color the surface BLUE where there is water Color the surface GREEN where there is land Chart B - Inner Layers Layer Depth (km) From Crust To Density (g/cm3) From Composition Phase (rock/metal) (solid/liquid) To Granite Basalt Asthenosphere Mantle Outer Core Inner Core Discussion Questions: 1. What characteristic of the atmosphere is most important in determining the interfaces between the layers? 2. Of what importance is the ozone layer found in the stratosphere? 3. Why is the troposphere the only layer to have “weather”? 4. Most of the Earth’s atmosphere is located in the bottom layer. Explain why this occurs even though it is the thinnest layer. 5. Using you ESRTs, what two parts of the Earth make up the lithosphere? 6. Describe what happens to temperature, pressure, and density as you approach the center of the Earth. C. The Ozone Layer Reading Comprehension Read the portion of the article on the Ozone layer below and answer the following questions based on the reading. Use complete sentences. Ozone Layer No Longer Thinning U.N. officials expect the protective layer in Earth's upper atmosphere will be restored to normal levels by 2045. Thu Sep 16, 2010 02:24 PM ET Content provided by AFP http://news.discovery.com/earth/ozone-layer-earth.html The size and shape of the ozone hole is shown in 2009. The protective ozone layer in the earth's upper atmosphere has stopped thinning and should largely be restored by mid century thanks to a ban on harmful chemicals. NASA Earth Observatory The protective ozone layer in the Earth's upper atmosphere has stopped thinning and should largely be restored by mid century thanks to a ban on harmful chemicals, UN scientists said on Thursday. The "Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2010" report said a 1987 international treaty that phased out chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) -- substances used in refrigerators, aerosol sprays and some packing foams -- had been successful. Ozone provides a natural protective filter against harmful ultra-violet rays from the sun, which can cause sunburn, cataracts and skin cancer as well as damage vegetation. First observations of a seasonal ozone hole appearing over the Antarctic occurred in the 1970s and the alarm was raised in the 1980s after it was found to be worsening under the onslaught of CFCs, prompting 196 countries to join the Montreal Protocol. "The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 to control ozone depleting substances is working, it has protected us from further ozone depletion over the past decades," said World Meteorological Organization head of research Len Barrie. "Global ozone, including ozone in the polar region is no longer decreasing but not yet increasing," he told journalists. The 300 scientists who compiled the four yearly ozone assessment now expect that the ozone layer in the stratosphere will be restored to 1980 levels in 2045 to 2060, according to the report, "slightly earlier" than expected. Although CFCs have been phased out, they accumulated and persist in the atmosphere and the effect of the curbs takes years to filter through. 1. What does the ozone layer do? 2. What substance is blamed for ozone destruction? 3. Explain what it means when the article says CFC’s “accumulated and persist in the atmosphere”. 4. What layer of the Earth’s atmosphere does the ozone layer exist in and how high above the Earth’s surface is that (in km)?