Lithosphere Hydrosphere
• The hydrosphere includes water that is on the surface of the planet,
• The solid, outer part of the Earth and the brittle upper
portion of the mantle and the crust
• It is bounded by the atmosphere above and the
asthenosphere below.
Earth’s Spheres
Biosphere
• The part of the Earth where all life exists.
• It extends from the deepest root systems of trees to the dark
environment of ocean trenches, to lush rainforests and high
mountaintops.
underground, and in the air. They can be liquid, vapour, or ice.
• On Earth, liquid water exists on the surface in the form of oceans,
lakes, and rivers.
• It also exists below ground—as groundwater, in wells and aquifers.
Water vapour is most visible as clouds and fog.
• The frozen part of Earth's hydrosphere is made of ice: glaciers, ice
caps and icebergs.
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
• The atmosphere is divided into five different layers, based on
temperature.
• The layer closest to Earth’s surface is the troposphere, reaching
about seven and 15 kilometres from the surface.
• The second layer is the stratosphere stretching approx. 50 km
• Above that is the mesosphere, which reaches as far as about 85
kilometres above Earth’s surface.
• The thermosphere is located above the mesopause and reaches
out to around 600 kilometres
• The uppermost layer, that blends with what is considered to be
outer space, is the exosphere.
Activity 3 – How do we use Earth’s natural
resources?
Natural resources are materials from the Earth that are used to support life and meet
people’s needs. Some examples of natural resources are:
• air, sunlight and soil
• water
• oil, coal and natural gas
• metals, stone and sand
• animals and plants on land and in water

Natural resources are used to make food, fuel and raw materials for the production
of goods, like clothing, tools, cars and machinery. All of the food that we eat comes
from plants or animals. Natural resources such as coal, natural gas and oil provide
energy for electricity, heating and transportation. These resources also are the raw
materials for making products such as steel, synthetic fibres and plastics.

Synthetic materials are made from natural resources and are usually created and
customised to suit a specific purpose. Synthetic materials are made by chemically
changing the raw materials to create new materials with different characteristics and
properties. Some examples of synthetic materials are:
• different types of steel and alloys
• plastics
• synthetic fibres like nylon, rayon, polyester and Kevlar
• medicines and pharmaceuticals

1. Explore items in and around your home to find as many examples as you can of
natural and synthetic materials. You might need to read clothing and food labels or
ingredient lists on containers. For example, rather than listing t-shirt, list cotton in the
natural column and polyester in the synthetic column of the table.

Natural resources Synthetic materials

Cotton, Polyester,
Wool, Nylon,
Wood, Acrylic,
Leather, Vinyl,
Bamboo, Plastic,
Silk, Faux Leather
Stone, Microfiber,
Linen Rubber
2. Match the natural resource with the product(s) that it makes.

Natural resource Product

jewellery, dental material,

cotton
electronics

wire, coins, electrical

oil/petroleum
equipment

gold steel

aluminium cans, cars,

trees
window frames

clothing, carpet,
iron ore
upholstery

copper clothing

diamonds fuel, plastic

bauxite jewellery, tools

wool paper, furniture, fuel

3. Read the article Is a substitute for plastic coming anytime soon? provided by your
teacher.
Record your ideas in the 3-2-1.

In 2016 alone, we produced 396 million tonnes of plastic,

. equivalent to 53 kilograms for every person on the planet.

Cellulose, proteins and silk are all examples of naturally-occurring

. polymers

3 things I learned
.
Bioplastics are a group of plastics that are either bio-based, biodegradable or

both, and are a potentially good alternative,

Why are we contributing to so much usage of plastic nowadays,

. even though there is promotion for paper or biodegradable

substitutes?
What environmentally friendly alternatives can be effectively substituted for
.
2 questions I now have
plastic in everyday products and packaging to mitigate the environmental

impact of plastic waste?

 One effective way to reduce the use of plastic is to adopt reusable

alternatives, such as using reusable shopping bags, water bottles,

.
1 way I could reduce the use of plastic
and containers instead of single-use plastic ones.