How Earth systems interact
Develop a model to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact as connected Earth systems
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name the four Earth systems: geosphere (rock/land), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air), biosphere (living things)
- Describe at least two interactions between different Earth systems with examples
- Create or interpret a model showing how a change in one system affects others
1 · Read
Earth is made of four connected systems: the geosphere (rock and land), the hydrosphere (water), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things). None of these works alone. A change in one system almost always causes a change in another.
A beaver cuts down trees (biosphere) and piles them in a stream (hydrosphere). The dam blocks the water and makes a pond, so nearby plants and animals get more water. One change in the biosphere changed the hydrosphere too.
When you spot two systems touching, like air touching rock or water touching a plant, that is where an interaction happens. Look for those touching points.
Earth's geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere are always touching and changing each other.
The rewritten readings were written for this dataset. The reading 'Unit 3: The Interconnected Nature of the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere' comes from the supplied OER Commons catalog record, catalog:oer-resource:oercommons:course.284140. License terms for that reading have not been verified.
More to read
Unit 3: The Interconnected Nature of the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere
Earth works like a team of four players. The geosphere is rock and land. The hydrosphere is all water. The atmosphere is the air above. The biosphere is every living thing. The players pass matter and energy back and forth without pause. Rain from the atmosphere feeds rivers in the hydrosphere. Rivers carve the geosphere and water plants in the biosphere.
Living things and their surroundings
An ecosystem includes organisms and their nonliving surroundings: light, air, water and soil. Its living members include plants, animals and microbes. In many ecosystems, plants capture energy that then passes along food chains. Matter is reused in cycles. A change in one part can affect others. Losing a forest can sometimes leave a stream drier.
Life changes Earth's air
For billions of years, living things and the atmosphere have changed one another. Ancient microbes released oxygen that gradually built up in the atmosphere. Today, plants take carbon from the atmosphere and store it in wood and soil. Erupting volcanoes and burning fuels release gases that can change climate.
Explore more
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.