Standard 29
SC.6.E.7.4
Differentiate and show interactions among the geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere
Differentiate and show interactions among the geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere
Standard Summary: This standard asks us to know and show the differences between how the five Earth spheres work and interact with each other
Vocabulary in Pictures
Everything in Earth's system can be classified pretty simply: land, water, ice, air and living things. Scientists classify these different systems into spheres. These spheres can be studied on an individual level, or by observing and predicting their interactions with each other. No sphere can function independently. All the spheres impact every other sphere. Let's go through some examples of these interactions to give you a better idea of how these interactions occur.
A simple example to start with is the interaction between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. You might know this as the water cycle. If the atmosphere is thin in an area, let's say because of pollution, then more solar radiation will penetrate through, causing the water to become heated. This in turn causes an increase in the rate of evaporation. When certain places have more evaporation, they can sometimes experience a drought. The heated air also causes convection currents to churn faster, pushing those heavy clouds away from where they were evaporated so somewhere else. This other place may now receive more rainfall that could result in flooding. The small change in one system means changes in others. |
Another example of the interactions between systems can be seen between the hydrosphere, the geosphere and the biosphere. Some living things like beavers, ants or humans are good at reshaping their surroundings. Let's say that a beaver (biosphere) builds a large dam that reroutes a river (hydrosphere). Over millions of years, this diverted water will wear away the surface of the land (geosphere). It may in time even form a valley or lake, providing a new place for organisms to live. This is the interaction between three of Earth's systems, but in nature all the systems are interconnected. A change to one (even from a single family of beavers...or humans) has an impact on all other systems.
What sphere interactions can you infer from the photograph on the left? To identify sphere interactions, think of one feature in the image at a time, decide which sphere it is a part of, then consider how it interacts with the other spheres.
A possible interpretation of this image could be the following: Plants (biosphere) draw water (hydrosphere) and nutrients from the soil (geosphere) and release water vapor into the atmosphere. Humans (biosphere) use farm machinery (manufactured from geosphere materials) to plow the fields, and the atmosphere brings precipitation (hydrosphere) to water the plants. Energy from the sun is stored by plants (biosphere). When humans or animals (biosphere) eat the plants, they acquire the energy originally captured by the plants. Humans expend some of this energy arranging bricks and wood (geosphere and biosphere) into buildings. https://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0103/es0103page04.cfm?chapter_no=investigation |
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