UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST

Basic Education Department

Caloocan Campus

HSB 112 – EARTH SCIENCE

Senior High School

STEM - SCIENCE
 University of the East
Basic Education Department
Caloocan Campus

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 University of the East
Basic Education Department
Caloocan Campus

DISCUSSION
EARTH SYSTEM

In your study of Earth, you found out that our planet is dynamic, and each part—
land, water, air, and life—are interconnected and continuously interact with one
another. The interacting parts in the Earth's system are called subsystems. There are
four subsystems that make up Earth's system: lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere,
and biosphere.
1. Lithosphere
• the solid outer section of Earth.
• It includes the entire Earth's crust and the rigid upper mantle. The two
crusts are the continental and oceanic crust.
• The lithosphere is not a continuous layer. It is divided into a number of
huge plates that move in relation to one another.
• It was believed that at the beginning of Earth, the continents are all
locked up into a huge landmass called Pangaea, as proposed by Alfred
Wegener. They broke apart and gradually drifted to their present
position.
2. Atmosphere
• The mixture of gases that surround the planet such
as nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, water
vapor and other trace gases.
• Two important processes changed Earth’s
atmosphere:
a. The radiation from the sun caused water (H2O)
to split apart
sunlight
2H2O 2H2 + O2, Hydrogen (H2)
escaped back to outer space, while oxygen (O2)
accumulated in the atmosphere.
b. A type of cyanobacteria evolved and began carrying out
photosynthesis. Photosynthesis utilized carbon dioxide and energy
to produce sugar and
sunlight

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oxygen: CO2 + H2O 2H2 + O2, Oxygen (O2) released

during photosynthesis supplied the rest of oxygen in the atmosphere.
COMPOSITION OF AIR

Percent by Concentration
Constituent
Volume (in ppm)

Nitrogen (N2) 78.084 780840.0

Oxygen (O2) 20.946 209460.0

Argon (Ar) 0.934 934.0

Carbon dioxide (CO2) 0.036 360.0

Neon (Ne) 0.00182 18.2

Helium (He) 0.00524 5.24

Methane (CH4) 0.00015 1.5

Krypton (Kr) 0.000114 1.14

Hydrogen (H2) 0.00005 0.5

➢ Layers of the atmosphere

The atmosphere does not only have a relatively stable composition, it is
also structured based on temperature.
a. Troposphere
• The lowest layer of the atmosphere is the troposphere. It
extends from the Earth's surface to an average height of about
12 km—9 km at the poles and 17 km at the equator.
• It contains about 80 percent of the total mass of the
atmosphere.
• Most of the water vapor present in the atmosphere is found in
the troposphere. Thus, all weather-associated cloud types are
found in this layer.
b. Stratosphere
• The second lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere situated
above the tropopause is the stratosphere. It lies above the
troposphere.

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• From the top of the troposphere, it extends from 12 km to 15

km above the Earth's surface to the stratopause, around 50
km in altitude.
• The temperature increases as altitude increases due to the
presence of ozone (03). Ozone absorbs the ultraviolet rays
from the sun and releases some of this energy in the form of
heat energy.
• The ozone layer in the stratosphere protects life on Earth by
absorbing ultraviolet radiation.
• It is also the layer where commercial airlines are allowed to
cruise due to the low temperature and low air density—two
factors that reduces drag.
c. Mesosphere
• The third highest layer of the Earth's atmosphere is the
mesosphere. It occupies the region above the stratosphere.
• It extends from the stratopause at an altitude of 50 km, to the
mesopause at an altitude of around 80 km.
• In the mesosphere, temperature decreases as altitude
increases.
• The coldest region in the atmosphere is the upper
mesosphere. It has an average temperature of around -85
degree Celsius. This layer protects Earth from meteoroids.
• Temperature stops decreasing at the mesopause.

d. Thermosphere
• Beyond the mesosphere is the thermosphere. It occupies the
region above the mesosphere and extends at an altitude of
about 80 km to 700 km.
• Nitrogen (N) and oxygen (02) absorb a great deal of ultraviolet
radiation and turn it into heat.
• The portion of the thermosphere between 90 km and 500 km
above the Earth's surface is called ionosphere -- a layer
consisting of highly-ionized gas. The ionized gas is formed
when ultraviolet rays knock off electron from nitrogen and

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oxygen. The layer of the ionosphere that reflects radio waves

is called Kennelly-Heaviside layer.
e. Exosphere
• It is the outermost layer of the Earth's atmosphere. It extends
from about 700 km to 1000 km above sea level. Most of the
orbiting satellites, as well as low-density elements, such as
hydrogen and helium, are found in this layer.

3. Hydrosphere
• the totality of Earth’s water, including the permanently frozen parts
called cryosphere
• Earth is known as "blue planet” because it is covered with water and
from space it is seen as bright blue.
• Nearly 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by the five recognized
oceans.
DISTRIBUTION OF WATER ON EARTH’S CRUST

Description Percentage (%)

Salt water 97.5
Oceans
Midland seas
Freshwater (easily available) (0.3)
Groundwater
Lakes
Rivers
Freshwater (not easily available) 2.5
Groundwater
Ice caps and glaciers

4. Biosphere
• contains the entirety of Earth's living
things (plants and animals). It is
sometimes referred to as the "zone of
life."
• From a geophysical point of view,
biosphere is the global ecological
system integrating all living things and
their relationship, including their

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interactions with the elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and

atmosphere.
• The biosphere is divided into biomes. Biomes are large ecosystems
classified according to the predominant vegetation characterized by
adaptations of organisms to that particular environment.
• There are five major biomes on Earth.
a. Aquatic biomes include freshwater (ponds, lakes, and rivers) and
marine (ocean and estuaries) biomes.
b. Forest biomes include tropical, temperate, and boreal forest known
as taiga. Each type of forest has distinctive features dominated by
trees and other woody vegetation.
c. Grassland biomes are characterized by the dominance of grasses
rather than large shrubs or trees.
d. Desert biomes are characterized by low rainfall (less than 50
cm/year). Most deserts have specialized vegetation as well as
specialized animals that can adapt to its condition.
e. Tundra biomes are the coldest of all the biomes. It has low biotic
diversity and a simple vegetation structure.

FLOW OF MATTER AND ENERGY

Movement of the chemicals through the biosphere is known as

biogeochemical cycle. The cycle shows the movement of these chemicals from their
nonliving reservoir through the various food chains of the ecosystem and their return
to these reservoirs.
Biogeochemical cycles include nitrogen cycle, oxygen cycle, carbon cycle, and water
cycle.
➢ Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen makes up 78% of the atmosphere, but

it is present in a form that cannot be used directly
by the large majority of living things. It must first be
"fixed" by specialized organisms or by industrial
processes. Fixing means that nitrogen must be

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incorporated in a chemical compound that can be utilized by plants and animals.

➢ Oxygen Cycle

Oxygen not only supports life; it arises from life.

In the origin of life, oxygen was not present in the
primordial atmosphere; rather, it was of biological
origin. It was the product of the photosynthesis of
plants.
Oxygen plays a fundamental role as a building block of practically all vital molecules.
Almost all organic matter in the present biosphere originates in the process of
photosynthesis. The three nonliving sources of oxygen atoms are carbon dioxide
(CO2), water (H2O), and molecular oxygen (O2) from physical processes. Common
oxide minerals such as nitrate (NO3-) and sulfates (SO42-) are also oxygen sources for
living organisms, which in turn reduce them to ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide
(H2S).
Molecular oxygen (O2) passes from a free state to a combined form—the water
molecules— through respiration. It is returned in the form of O 2 through
photosynthesis. Water molecules take part in ionization and in hydrolytic reactions.

➢ Carbon Cycle

The study of carbon cycle in the

atmosphere is fundamentally the study of
the overall global interactions of living
organisms and their physical and chemical
environment.
Carbon cycle on land begins with the
fixation of atmospheric carbon dioxide by
the process of Photosynthesis conducted
by plants and microorganisms. The carbohydrates produced are directly consumed to
supply the plant with energy, and the generated CO 2 is released either through the
plant's leaves or through its roots. Part of the carbon fixed by plants is consumed by
animals, which also respire and release CO2. Plants and animals die and are ultimately
decomposed by microorganisms in the soil. The carbon in their tissues is oxidized to
CO2 and returns to the atmosphere.

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➢ Water Cycle

Water enters the atmosphere through

evaporation of water from seas, ocean, lakes,
rivers, and other water bodies, and from
transpiration of water from plant leaves.
Sometimes, the terms evaporation and
transpiration are put together to form one
word: evapotranspiration. As water vapor
rises into the atmosphere, it cools, and then
condenses to form a cloud. As the water
droplet becomes bigger, it falls as rain. The water that falls to the ground can
evaporate, collect, run off, or infiltrate. When it collects on the surface of the land, it
produces standing water, ponds, or lakes. When rain flows over the ground and into
the body of water, it is called runoff. Runoff flows into streams and rivers and eventually
back to the ocean or sea.