Sphere Interactions

Introduction:

All the four spheres of the earth interact and bring about events. Some events occur naturally like
precipitation in the form of rain, snow, hailstones etc. This events could bring changes in spheres, like too
much rain could cause erosions and landslides. Some events could also be the effect of some changes in other
spheres like burning could pollute the air in the atmosphere. This two-way cause and effect relationship
between an event and a sphere is called an interaction.

Objective: The student should be able to:

a) investigate the connection of an event to any of the spheres of the earth.

Material/s

¼ Manila paper, marker, iPad

Instruction:

1. Research the EVENT and decide how it may cause a change to each of the spheres (hydrosphere,
lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere) and how those spheres may impact the event.

Event < > lithosphere

Event < > hydrosphere
Event < > biosphere
Event < > atmosphere

Fig. 1
Students will make a concept map to show and EXPLAIN their ideas. The double-headed arrows ( < >)
indicate that the cause and effect relationships of these interactions go in both directions. For
example, “event hydrosphere” refers to the effects of the event on the hydrosphere, and the effects of
the hydrosphere on the event. Refer to Fig. 1 above for your guidance.

2. Next students evaluate and discuss the information they have acquired and write down how your
events will connect the spheres to each other.
Guide Question: What are the effects of the event on each of the Earth's four spheres (hydrosphere,
atmosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere)?

lithosphere < >hydrosphere

lithosphere < > biosphere
lithosphere < > atmosphere
hydrosphere < > biosphere
hydrosphere < > atmosphere
biosphere < >atmosphere

Fig. 2
Again, the double-headed arrows (< >) indicate that the cause and effect relationships of the
interactions go in both directions.
3. Students will then complete their evaluations with a diagram similar to Fig. 2 with EXPLANATIONS for
the connections.
4. Each group will then present to the class explaining their event and the effects on the Earth system.