SUBSYSTEMS OF THE

EARTH
The Four Spheres
Essential Questions

What are the How do these

four spheres spheres
of the Earth? interact?
GEOSPHERE

The Geosphere contains all of the cold, hard

solid land of the planet's crust (surface), the
semi-solid land underneath the crust, and
the liquid land near the center of the planet.
HYDROSPHERE
 The hydrosphere contains all the solid,
liquid, and gaseous water of the planet.
 It ranges from 10 to 20 kilometers in
thickness.
 Ninety-seven percent of Earth's water is
salty.
BIOSPHERE
 The biosphere contains all the planet's
living things.
 Within the biosphere, living things form
ecological communities based on the
physical surroundings of an area.
ATMOSPHERE
 The atmosphere contains all the air in
Earth's system.
 It extends from less than 1 m below the
planet's surface to more than 10,000 km
above the planet's surface.
 Gas content: 78%-Nitrogen; 21%-Oxygen; 1%-
Other gasses.
How do these
subsystems
interact?
(SAMPLE ONLY)

Water in the lake

Humans
(hydrosphere)
Humans seeps into the cliff
(biosphere)
(biosphere) harness energy
walls behind the
built a dam out from the water
dam, becoming
(hydrosphere) by
of rock groundwater
having it spin
materials (geosphere), or
turbines
evaporating into
(geosphere). the air
(geosphere) to
produce electricity.
(atmosphere).
 With group
members,
practice describing
interactions in this
scene, tracing the
movement of
materials or energy
through all four of
Earth's spheres if
possible.
(In diagram or concept
map)