READA It is all about the Earth!

Read On Journey to the Center of the Earth!

All of you might be familiar with the parts of the Earth based on your former
science classes. Try to answer the table below. Arrange the Earth’s parts according to the
following: Thickness Temperature Density
Earth is deemed to be around one-third
of the age of the universe about 4.5 billion years
old. Just like the other planets, based on the
nebular hypothesis, it started as a hot gaseous
mass that was bombarded with meteorites, comets, and other planetary bodies. As time passed by
this planet cooled down until life flourished as what we can see today. Our planet is composed of
different subsystems. What is the significance of the interaction of the earth systems on the life on
earth?
Note: To answer this question, please watch the video published by Sustainable Human. (2014,
February 13). With a title of How Wolves Change Rivers [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q
How did the wolf affect the river? __________________________________________________
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A. Geosphere
The word itself geo means Earth. This sphere comprises the solid portion of the earth
extending to the inner portion of our planet. All the landforms, continents, and even the ocean floor
or in other words all the non-living forms belonged to this sphere. Scientists experts in this sphere
are called geologist.
Earth’s Internal Structure:
1. Crust. The Earth's Crust is like the skin of an apple.
It is very thin in comparison to the other three layers.
Only 1% of earth’s volume. There are 2 types of crust:
(1) Continental and (2) Oceanic Crust. The thickness
of crust varies based on their location. On land at sea
level – 35 km thick, Mountainous region – 70 km thick
and at the Bottom of the ocean – 7 km thick.
What makes up lithosphere? How about the
asthenosphere? ______________________________ Fig 4.1 Earth’s Interior. Adapted from:
___________________________________________ https://sites.google.com/a/dcsdk12.org/mr-alan-
savage/classwork/unit-3--earth-science-plate-
___________________________________________ tectonics-and-geologic-time/3-3--notes-geology-
2. Mantle. Comprises 84% of the Earth’s Volume and images?tmpl=%2Fsystem%2Fapp%2Ftemplates%2Fpri
nt%2F&showPrintDialog=1
the thickest layer. It is divided into upper and lower
mantle. Made up of rocks rich in magnesium and iron. The mantle moves that causes the movement
of the Earth’s plates known as convection current. Looking back on three types of heat transfer
from your former physics class, how does convection current happen in the mantle?
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3. Core. The densest layer and Transitional Boundaries of the Earth
makes up about one-third of Name Discoverer Location
Earth’s mass. This part is also Mohorovičić Andrija Mohorovicic Located at the base of the
Discontinuity (1909) when he was crust and the top of the
divided into just like the mantle: (1) studying the seismic mantle
outer core that is in a liquid state waves in an earthquake
and (2) inner core that is in a solid in Croatia
Gutenberg Beno Gutenberg. Between the lower mantle and
state. They are composed of iron the outer core. Considered to
Discontinuity (1913)
and nickel. The Iron that makes up be unstable when the heat of
the mantle dissipates, the
the core is the primary source molten core then solidifies and
of the magnetic field of the earth. shrinks that causes this
The core spins fast to generate boundary to be moved deeper
to the core.
magnetic field that protect us from Lehman Inge Lehman (1929) Between the inner and
the harmful solar winds coming Discontinuity after studying a large outer core
from the sun. The reason why Mars earthquake that
happened in New York
dried out because its magnetic field
suddenly disappeared.
Note: To know the relevance of the Earth’s magnetic field, please watch the video published by
Science Channel. (2014, September 15). With a title of Why Earth’s Magnetic Shield Matters
[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXFVpwecixY

B. Hydrosphere
All the waters on the earth’s surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including
water over the earth’s surface such as the clouds belonged to this sphere. The fog, clouds, and mist
are examples of water vapor suspended in the atmosphere. It also includes the cryosphere, the
permanently frozen parts (glaciers) that can be found here on Properties of Water
our planet. Covers 70% of the earth’s surface (3% is potable) 1. Could be in liquid, solid or gaseous form.
and most of that are ocean waters. Since life became possible 2. Has a neutrophil pH
3. Good conductor of heat and energy
because of this sphere, here are the properties of water that 4. Has high specific heat capacity
makes it important. 5. Universal Solvent
Note: To know about the other properties of water, please watch the video published by Amoeba
Sisters (2016, July 26). With a title of Properties of water [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jwAGWky98c
The interaction of this sphere to the other spheres can be seen through hydrologic cycle.

C. Atmosphere
It is known to be the blanket of our planet. The atmosphere is important in maintaining heat
coming from the sun to keep us warm even at night. This sphere is comprised of 78% nitrogen,
20% oxygen and the rest are the trace gases. This sphere is also divided into different layers as
shown in this picture. They have buffer zones before each layer that
ends with -pause, they are the tropopause, stratopause, mesopause
and thermopause. Here are their characteristics of each layer of the
atmosphere:
1. Troposphere - densest layer among the other layers. As the
altitude increase the temperature drops making the warm air on the
surface of the earth rise. These movement of air molecules causes
the formation of clouds. The reason why most jets and airplanes
move higher to prevent turbulence.
2. Stratosphere –Pathway for airlines that have long distance Fig 4.3 Layers of the Atmosphere.
flights since the air is in strong steady horizontal direction. Where Adapted from:
https://www.abcteach.com/docume
ozone is located that was observed to be depleting due to ozone- nts/clip-art-atmosphere-layers-
depleting substances (OCD). These substances were banned labeled-bw-i-abcteachcom-43435
globally due to its negative effect to our ozone.
Note: To know about the ozone layer, please watch the video published by National Geographic
(2018, February 12). With a title of Climate 101: Ozone Depletion | National Geographic [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU6pxSNDPhs
3. Mesosphere – coldest layer for the temperature can drop up to -90 °C. These protects the earth
from planetary debris by breaking them down into bits before it reaches the surface.
4. Thermosphere - Hottest layer since it absorbs highly energetic solar heat that the temperature
beyond 1000 °C. This is the portion where aurora’s can be found.
Note: For Aurora’s, please watch the video published by TED-Ed. (2013, July 3). With a title of
What is an Aurora? - Michael Molina [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czMh3BnHFHQ
5. Exosphere – outermost layer and is extremely thin and gradually fades into space.

D. Biosphere
Biological Component of the Earth. All the living organisms even the undiscovered ones
belonged to this sphere and the life that is present in other spheres. The Anthroposphere also known
as the Human Sphere is a part of the Earth that has been modified by humans. It is believed that
life begun around 3.9 million years ago.
There are different theories that explain the
origin of life some of these are the
following: (1) The theory of primordial
soup, (2) Deep-sea vent theory and (3)
panspermia. The image beside shows the
amount of energy being passed down as
another organism consume the other. You
can also watch this video all about the earth
through this link: https://www.youtube.com Fig 4.4 The system of biosphere. Adapted from:
/watch?v=JGXi_9A__Vc&pbjreload=101 https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-4-ecology/42-energy-
flow/pyramids-of-energy.html
Note: To know more about the spheres, please watch the video published by Crash Course Kids
(2015, April 15). With a title of Four Spheres Part 1 (Geo and Bio): Crash Course Kids #6.1
[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMxjzWHbyFM&t=152s
Part 2 video published by Crash Course Kids. (2015, April 17). With a title of Four Spheres
Part 2 (Hydro and Atmo): Crash Course Kids #6.2 [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXh_7wbnS3A

Earth Rocks!
The topics earlier in this module were about the origin and the composition of the earth. It
gave us an idea that the development of the young earth is chaotic (Hadean eon). Lots of volcanoes
are active and other planetary bodies hit the surface of the earth. Many geologic processes occurred
as the spheres also interact with each other. This opens to the development and evolution of various
natural occurring materials that are necessary for life. Rocks and minerals together with other
materials (soil, water, air and organic matter) are essential for the growth and survival of
organisms.
Minerals
Minerals are naturally occurring inorganic solids for they undergo natural geologic
processes. They are the building blocks of rocks and composed of elements such as found in the
periodic table the reason why they can be represented by chemical formula. They have crystalline
structure and definite composition. These minerals have physical and chemical properties.
Physical Properties
Color Results of the way minerals absorb light. Used in identifying transparent to translucent
minerals. Least reliable.
Streak Color of the mineral in a powdered form through streak test.
Hardness Measure of the mineral resistance against scratching. The harder the mineral, the greater
its resistance to scratching. Mohs scale of Hardness by Frederick Mohs.
Cleavage and Cleavage is the area of the crystalline structure where the mineral can be break
Fracture smoothly. Fracture is when it breaks in a direction where there is no cleavage.
Crystalline Tells how crystals in the mineral are arranged.
Structure
Transparency Indicates the extent of light that can pass through the mineral. The thickness of mineral
can affect its transparency.
Magnetism Ability of the mineral to attract or repel other minerals.
Tenacity The level of resistance or reaction of minerals into stress
Luster Determines how brilliant or dull the mineral to the light.
Odor Released smell of the mineral from a chemical reaction
Specific Measuring the density of the mineral. Determining the heaviness of a mineral by
Gravity comparing its weight to that of water especially if they are common in color.
Note: To have a deeper understanding about these physical properties, you can watch the video,
titled “Identifying Minerals” from this link on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32N
G9aeZ7_c.

Another way of identifying and classifying rocks is through their chemical properties first
used by James Dana. He divided it into 8 classes. To know more about the chemical properties of
mineral and the types of rocks watch the video prepared by the teacher.
 8 Basic Classes
Silicate Largest and the most abundant group containing silicon and oxygen with some aluminum,
magnesium, iron and calcium. E.g. feldspar, quartz, pyroxene, mica, garnet
Carbonate Mostly found in marine environment. Formed from the dead shells of plankton and other
marine organisms.
Sulphate Formed from areas with high evaporation rate and where salty water evaporate. During the
process, the formation of sulphates and halides in water-sediment interface occurs.
Halide Minerals that formed in lakes, ponds and other landlocked seas (Dead sea and the Great Salt
Lake). Contains natural salts and includes fluorite halite, sylvite and sal ammoniac
components.
Oxide Formed from precipitates close to the surface or oxidation products of minerals during
weathering.
Sulphide/ Contains metals like copper, lead and silver which considered to be economically
Sulfide significant.
Phosphate Minerals contained phosphorus. Considered to be important biological mineral that can be
found in teeth and bones of animals.
Native Minerals containing metals, intermetallic elements, semimetals, nonmetals or natural alloys
and constituents of few rare meteorites.
Rocks
Contains minerals clumped together and formed with other earth materials through natural
processes. They are classified into three basic types.
1. Igneous rocks. Formed from the cooling and solidification of molten or partially molten volcanic
materials (magma) that came out through an opening/vent (lava).
2. Sedimentary rocks. Derived from the root word sediment which means, “to settle at the bottom.”
Commonly found in beaches, rivers, oceans. Formed through the process of weathering and Soil
erosion.
3. Metamorphic rock. Came from words Meta that means “change” and Morph means “form”.
These are rocks exposed from high pressure or temperature that can be derived from igneous or
sedimentary rock.