Parts of the atmosphere and its layers.

 Lesson 8

Parts of the Atmosphere

and its layers

Objective: To learn the function of the Atmosphere.

Keywords: The atmosphere, the exosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere and troposphere.

Vocabulary

Nº	English	Spanish
1	Above	Encima
2	Absorbs	Absorber
3	Aim	Objetivo
4	Asteroids	Asteroides
5	Atomic oxygen	Oxígeno atómico
6	Answer	Respuesta
7	Atomic nitrogen	Nitrógeno atómico
8	Against	Contra
9	Breathe	Respirar
10	Below	debajo
11	Blanket	Manto
12	Climatizes	Climatiza
13	Clouds	Nubes
14	Coldest	Más frío
15	Carbon dioxide	Óxido de carbono
16	Critical Altitude	Altitud crítica
17	Destroy	Destruir
18	Densities	Densidades
19	Distant	Distante
20	Exercises	Ejercicios
21	Exosphere	Exósfera
22	Evaporation	Evaporación
23	Exobase	Exobase
24	Exopause	Exopausa
25	Extraterrestrial radiation	Radiación extraterrestre
26	Filter	Filtro
27	Formed	Formado
28	Falls	Caer
29	Found	Encontrar
30	Friction	Fricción
31	Heat	Calentar
32	Houses	Alberga
33	Hydrogen	Hidrógeno
34	Higher	Más altas
35	heavier molecules	Moléculas más pesadas
36	Helium	Helio
37	Heats up	Se recalienta
38	Ionosphere	Ionósfera
39	Ice crystals	Cristales de hielo
40	Increase	Incrementar
41	Life	Vida
42	Live	Vivir
43	Let’s do it!	¡Hagamoslo!
44	Layered	Estratificado
45	Lowest	Más baja
46	Most	Mayoría
47	Mesosphere	Mesosfera
48	Mainly	Principalmente
49	Make	Hacer
50	Moisture-laden	Humedad
51	Meteors	Meteoros
52	Mass	Masa
53	Nitrogen	Nitrógeno
54	Next	Siguiente
55	Noctilucent clouds	Nubes noctilucentes
56	Northern Lights	Aurora boreal/Luces del Norte
57	North	Norte
58	Oceans	Oceanos
59	Oxygen	Oxígeno
60	Orbit	Órbitar
61	Overlaps	Se superpone
62	Passes	Aprueba
63	Pressure	Presionar
64	Photosynthesis	Fotosíntesis
65	Protective	Protector
66	Power	Poder
67	Poles	Polos
68	Polar regions	Regiones polares
69	Radiation	Radiación
70	Researchers	Investigadores
71	Reach	Alcanzar
72	Rays	Rayos
73	Rises	Aumenta
74	Repels	Rechaza
75	Role	Rol
76	Radio waves	Ondas de radio
77	Sunburns	Quemaduras solares
78	Stratosphere	Estratósfera
79	Stratospheric	Estratosférico
80	Shield	Escudo
81	South	Sur
82	Satellites	Satélites
83	Thrown	Lanzados
84	Troposphere	Troposfera
85	Thermosphere	Termosfera
86	Ultraviolet	Ultravioleta
87	UV radiation	Rayos UV
88	Warm	Caliente
89	Winds	Viento
90	Weather	Clima
91	Workshop	Taller
92	word search	Sopa de letras
93	X-rays	Rayos X

Lesson plan n°8 – English version

Lesson plan n°8 – Spanish version

The Atmosphere

is composed of a gaseous layer

that surrounds the Earth.

This layer protects us from

the vacuum of space and the

electromagnetic radiation

emitted by the Sun.

The Atmosphere

contains oxygen (O2), an essential 

gas that we all breathe to live.

The atmosphere acts as a gigantic filter that repels most of the ultraviolet radiation and partially absorbs the warm rays of the sun.

The atmosphere has a layered structure such as: the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere and ionosphere.

 

The Troposphere

The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere; which extends from the earth's surface to the beginning of the stratosphere.

In this layer is the air we breathe 

and it climatizes the process 

of the earth. The clouds we observe 

and the birds flying make part 

of the troposphere.

The Stratosphere

The stratosphere is the second layer of the atmosphere, which is located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere.

The stratosphere is the 

protective blanket of 

the earth that houses 

the ozone layer (O3)… 

…that’s a mass that works like a shield and protect us from the UV radiation from the Sun, avowing the cancer and skin burns in human beings. 

The ozone layer makes part of the stratosphere and its function is to absorbs the solar radiation that falls on the earth.

The Mesosphere

The mesosphere is the third layer located above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere.

It is the coldest layer and

 its gases are made up of

oxygen, carbon dioxide, 

and nitrogen. 

The aim of this layer is to 

destroy the meteors 

and asteroids

before they can reach

 Earth's surface. 

In the mesosphere sometimes is formed a kind of special clouds (noctilucent clouds); which are close to the North and South poles. Generally, they are higher than any other type of cloud.

The Thermosphere

The thermosphere is the fourth layer of the atmosphere, located above the mesosphere and below the exosphere.

The main components of 

the air in the thermosphere are 

the atomic oxygen (O), atomic nitrogen 

(N) and helium (He). 

The aim of the thermosphere is to protect and regulate the earth’s temperature by absorbing much of the UV radiation and X-rays emitted by the Sun.

In this layer we can appreciate one

of the most beautiful phenomena;

the Northern Lights.

The Exosphere

The exosphere is the fifth and outermost layer of the atmosphere, beginning at the upper limit of the thermosphere, at a point in the atmosphere known as the exobase, exopause, or "critical altitude."

The exosphere is composed by very low densities of hydrogen, helium, and other heavier molecules, including nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide closer to the exobase.

The exosphere is the most distant layer from the atmosphere; but, it constitutes the first line of defense of the planet against the rays of the Sun and meteors. 

This layer is perfect to

                                           put satellites

 because there are not much

friction and they can orbit easily.

The Ionosphere

The ionosphere contains a relatively large number of electrically charged atoms and molecules.

These charged particles are created

 due to extraterrestrial radiation 

(mainly from the Sun) on neutral atoms and air molecules in the atmosphere. 

This layer overlaps the mesosphere, 

thermosphere, and exosphere.    

The Ionosphere influences the propagation

of radio waves and the Northern Lights

 protecting us from the radiation. 

       Let's watch the following video

Let's practice!

Activity 1

Find the layers of the Atmosphere in the next word search.

                         Activity 2

Complete the next information.

Printed version activities