EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE

Grade Level: Grade 11

SLG No. 1
Subject Code/Number: Core 04
Subject Description: This learning area is designed to provide a general background understanding of
the Earth on a planetary scale. It presents the history of the Earth through geologic time. It discusses the
Earth’s structure and composition, the processes that occur beneath and on the Earth’s surface, as well
as issues, concerns, and problems pertaining to Earth’s surface.
Time Frame: Week 1 and 2

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARTH

Look at the image below and observe these three terrestrial planets, namely Venus, Earth, and Mars.
Try to think of the similarities and differences among the planets.

Figure 1: Venus, Earth, and Mars. Images from NASA

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Terrestrial_planet_sizes.jpg
Table 1: Comparison of the features of Venus, Earth, and Mars
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Grade Level: Grade 11
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Grade Level: Grade 11

● Venus, Earth, and Mars are part of the inner terrestrial or "rocky" planets. Their composition and
densities are not too different from each other.
● Venus is considered to be the Earth's twin planet. It has a very similar size and mass with the Earth.
Mars is about half the Earth's size.
● Orbital period and velocity are related to the planet's distance from the sun. Among the three
planet, Venus is the nearest and Mars is the farthest from the Sun.
● Rotational speed of Earth and Mars are very similar. Rotational speed of Venus is extremely slow.
● Abundance of liquid water on Earth, hence the blue color. The Earth is a habitable planet.

EARTH’S SUBSYSTEM

System – a set of interconnected components that are interacting to form a unified whole. e.g
Ecosystem, which defines as organisms that are interacting and interrelated. The four major
systems of earth; air, water, land, and life. Each helps shape the structure of the planet.

The subsystems biological components of the Earth System are often referred to as spheres and
are subdivided into four:

● Geosphere/Litosphere

● Hydrosphere

● Atmosphere

● Biosphere

A. Geosphere

Geosphere is a subsystem which includes the Earth’s interior, rocks and minerals,
landforms and the processes that shape the earth’s surface. It makes up the solid
portion of the earth’s layer, its structure and land.
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Grade Level: Grade 11

What are the layers of the Earth? See Fig.1

● Crust – has a thin layer measuring 40km deep composed of solid rocks and minerals. It is
divided into two forms; Oceanic and Continental Crust. See Fig.2

Fig
.2

Oceanic Crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of a tectonic plate.

Continental Crust is the later of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that form
the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to the shores.

See chart below for the comparison between Continental and Oceanic Crust.

Continental Crust Oceanic Crust

1. Light-colored 1. Dark-colored
2. Rock sample: Granite 2. Rock sample: Basalt
3. Less dense 3. More dense
4. Thick layer 4. Thin layer
5. 40-70km 5. 50km
6. Coarse textured

● Mantle – it represents about 85% of the total weight and mass of our planet or the
largest part of the earth, made of molten rocks. It is made of dense rocks which is made
of nickel and iron in the form of silicate rocks (upper mantle) and its lower part is semi-
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
Grade Level: Grade 11

solid (partially molten rocks).

Upper Mantle – extends from the crust to a depth about 410km (255 miles). The upper
mantle is mostly solid, but its more malleable regions contribute to tectonic activity.

Lower Mantle – extends about 660km (410 miles) to about 2,700km (1,678 miles)
beneath the Earth’s surface. The lower mantle is hotter and denser than the upper
mantle.

● Core – is a fluid later about 2,300km (1,400 miles) thick and composed of mostly iron and
nickel that lies above the earth’s solid inner core and below its mantle.

The inner core is the center of Earth which is purely made of a very hot liquid iron and
nickel>

Its outer core boundary lies 2,890km (1,800 miles) beneath the earth’s surface. It is made
up of liquid (purely molten) rock materials.
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Grade Level: Grade 11

B. Hydrosphere

Hydrosphere is the combined mass of water found on, under, and above the surface of
the planet, minor planet or natural satellite. Mostly 70% of earth is composed of water,
97% is ocean water and 3% fresh water.

What is water cycle?

The water cycle is called the hydrologic cycle. In the hydrologic cycle, water from oceans,
lakes, swamps, rivers, plants, and even “us”, can turn into water vapor.

Fi
g.
3

Water vapor condenses into millions of tiny droplets that form clouds. Clouds lose their
water as rain or snow which is called precipitation. See Fig.3.

C. Atmosphere

Atmosphere particularly, earth’s atmosphere is not just merely the air that we breathe
but also a blanket of gas that surrounds our planet up to the edge of the space .

The atmosphere of earth is mostly composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon,
with carbon dioxide and other gases in trace amounts.

Atmosphere is divided into layers: Top to bottom: Exosphere, Thermosphere,

Mesosphere, Stratosphere and Troposphere. See Fig.4
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● Exosphere – this is the upper limit of the atmosphere. It contains mainly oxygen and
hydrogen atoms, but there are so few of them that they rarely collide.

● Thermosphere – located above the mesosphere, aurora and satellites are mostly found
Fig.4
in this layer.

● Mesosphere – extends 80km high, meteors usually burn up in this region when they
approach the planet.

● Stratosphere – extends up to 50km high, it is in this region where ozone layer is located
which absorbs and scatters the ultraviolet radiation.

● Troposphere – extends up to 6-20km high, considered the densest among the other
parts of the atmosphere. All weather types are in this region.

D. Biosphere

Biosphere is termed as the “zone of life”. It is the part where life exist. The biosphere is
unique. So far there has been no existence of life elsewhere in the universe.

The biosphere includes all the animals, plants, microorganisms of earth. Humans as well
belong to this group. The entire Ecological Communities within physical surrounding of
the earth are within the umbrella of Biosphere. These Ecological Communities are called
Biomes.

A Biome is a community of plants and animals that have common characteristics for the
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environment they exist in. Biomes are often defined as abiotic factor such as
temperature, climate, geology, soil and vegetation. There are two different types of
Biomes: Aquatic and Terrestrial Biome.

E. Interactions of Subsystems/Spheres

The earth is made of several subsystems or spheres that interact to form a complex and
continuously changing interactions called Earth System. See Fig.5.

Fig.5

● The geosphere consists of the core, mantle and crust of the Earth.

● The atmosphere contains all of the Earth’s air and is divided into troposphere,
stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and ionosphere.

● The hydrosphere contains all of the solid, liquid and gaseous water on Earth, extending
from the depths of the sea to the upper reaches of the troposphere where water is
found. Ninety-seven percent of the hydrosphere is found in salty oceans, and the
remainder is found as vapor or droplets in the atmosphere and as liquid in ground water,
lakes, rivers, glaciers and snowfields.

● The biosphere is the collection of all Earth’s life forms, distributed in major life zones
known as biomes: tundra, boreal forest, temperate deciduous forest, temperate
grassland, desert, savannah, tropical rainforest, chaparral, freshwater, and marine.

Environmental scientists study the effects of events in one sphere on the other spheres.
For example, a volcanic eruption in the geosphere may cause profound direct and indirect
effects on the hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere.
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Grade Level: Grade 11

Events can occur naturally, such as an earthquake or a hurricane, or they can be caused
by humans, such as an oil spill or air pollution. An event can cause changes to occur in
one or more of the spheres, and/or an event can be the effect of changes in one or more
of Earth’s four spheres. This two-way cause and effect relationship between an event and
a sphere are called an interaction.