Five spheres, one Earth
Rocks, water, ice, air and life.
One planet, many parts
A mountain, a river, a glacier, the air and a forest all belong to the same planet.
Do these parts work separately or together?
What this lesson covers
The idea
The Earth is one system of interacting spheres: geosphere (rocks, soil, interior), hydrosphere (liquid water), cryosphere (ice and snow), atmosphere (air) and biosphere (living organisms and their habitats).
One planet, many parts
A mountain, a river, a glacier, the air and a forest all belong to the same planet.
Do these parts work separately or together?
- They interact as one system
- Each works alone
- They never touch
Meet the five spheres
Open each tab.
One system of spheres
The Earth is not a heap of separate things. Its solid ground, its liquid water, its ice and snow, its air and its living beings all act on each other.
The Earth is one system of interacting spheres: geosphere (rocks, soil, interior), hydrosphere (liquid water), cryosphere (ice and snow), atmosphere (air) and biosphere (living organisms and their habitats).
Notes
The Earth is one system of five interacting spheres: geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, biosphere.
Check yourself
Which sphere includes rocks, soil and the Earth's interior?
Glaciers and snow belong to the …
Living organisms and the places where they live form the …
The air around the Earth is the …
- Hydrosphere. The hydrosphere is the liquid water.
- Geosphere — correct. Yes!
- Atmosphere. The atmosphere is the air.
- Hydrosphere. The hydrosphere is liquid water, and ice and snow form the cryosphere.
- Biosphere. The biosphere is living organisms and their habitats.
- Cryosphere — correct. Yes!
- Biosphere — correct. Yes!
- Geosphere. The geosphere is rocks, soil and the interior.
- Cryosphere. The cryosphere is ice and snow.
- Hydrosphere. The hydrosphere is liquid water.
- Atmosphere — correct. Yes!
- Geosphere. The geosphere is the solid Earth.