PRAYER

Course Description

This learning area is designed to provide a general background

for the understanding of Earth Science and Biology. It
presents the history of the Earth through geologic time. It
discusses the Earth’s structure, composition, and processes.
Issues, concerns, and problems pertaining to natural hazards
are also included. It also deals with the basic principles and
processes in the study of biology. It covers life processes and
interactions at the cellular, organism, population, and
ecosystem levels
The Earth as a System

Earth’s Spheres
 What makes Earth habitable?

Two Major Requirements:

First: Second:
The star should survive The planet should exist in
long enough for its planets a region where water
to develop life. could remain liquid.
Factors:
1. Temperature
- This will influence how quickly atoms and molecules move.
Most living things are limited to a temperature range of minus 15 ̊C to
115 ̊C.
Given this temperature range, H2O may still exist in the liquid form is
crucial to life. Among the other planets, only Earth’s surface has this
temperature range.
Factors:
2. Water
- the presence of water allowed photosynthetic organisms to
thrive.
Factors:
3. Energy
- Living things use light or chemical energy to run essential life
processes. With the availability of sufficient energy, organisms can
perform different metabolic reactions through the cells. The inner
planets such as Earth, get too much sunlight for life. The outer planets
get too little.
Factors:
4. Right Distance from the Sun
- Earth is in the Goldilocks Zone. A region with just the right
temperature to sustain life – not too cold not too hot.
Factors:
5. Strong Magnetic Field
- It shields us from the
electromagnetic radiation
coming from the Sun. The
magnetic field deflects the
radiation that may destroy
the ozone layer.
Factors:
6. Nutrients
- These are materials that build and maintain an organism’s body.
The inner planets including Earth and moons have the same general
chemical components which make nutrients easily available in the
environment.
Factors:
7. Greenhouse Gases
- Without the greenhouse effect,
Earth would be frozen, more than 60o F
colder. As mentioned above, the
atmosphere is capable of trapping heat
because of greenhouse gases. Examples of
greenhouse gases are water vapor,
methane, and carbon dioxide.
Factors:
8. It is protected by Plate Tectonics from the very hot
temperature of the core
- The earth’s core causes the convection currents in the mantle
causing the overlaying lithosphere to move. However, the surface is
protected from heat from the core by the lithospheric
plates.
Subsystems of the Earth
BIOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE

EARTH

GEOSPHERE ATMOSPHERE
Earth’s Subsystem
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Geosphere
Biosphere
Earth’s Subsystem
Atmosphere
- A set of layers of gases that blankets
the planet held by the planet’s gravity.
It consists of 78% nitrogen, 20.95%
oxygen, 0.93% argon, and 0.04% water
vapor including all other gases.
Different layers of the atmosphere
include the troposphere, stratosphere,
mesosphere, and thermosphere.
Earth’s Subsystem
Hydrosphere
- It is the liquid component of
the Earth including oceans,
glacial waters, and freshwater
bodies that cover 70% of the
earth’s surface; 98% of the
water on Earth is saltwater.
Earth’s Subsystem
Geosphere
- It is the solid
sphere of the earth.
This is where
geologic processes
such as volcanism
and orogenesis
(mountain building)
take place.
Earth’s Subsystem
Biosphere
- This is the living sphere of
the earth. It is the totality of
all the ecosystems on the
whole planet. It compels us to
interact with other living
organisms under the influence
of the abiotic factors in the
system.
Earth System Science
Earth System Science
is the study of how the
four spheres of the
Earth system interact
continually, each
affecting the others.

Let’s look at a couple of

examples of how a
change in one system (or
sphere) affects other
Earth systems.
System Interactions
Volcanoes (geosphere) erupt, sending ash
and gases into the air (atmosphere) and
sending lava and ash down onto surrounding
forests (biosphere) and human habitations
(biosphere).
Geosphere

Atmosphere Biosphere
System Interactions
Hurricanes (atmosphere) sweep across the ocean
(hydrosphere) and onto the land (geosphere), damaging the
dwellings of people (biosphere) who live along the coast.

Hydrosphere

Atmosphere Geosphere

Biosphere
System Interactions
Earthquakes (geosphere) can damage buildings which may kill
people (biosphere), as well as cause fires that release gases
into the air (atmosphere). Earthquakes in the ocean may
cause a tsunami (hydrosphere) which can eventually hit land
and kill both animals and people (biosphere).
Biosphere

Geosphere Atmosphere

Hydrosphere
 ASSIGNMENT
Directions:
Create your own illustration of how
the Four Spheres interact with
each other. Choose one process
that may happen in any of the
spheres then try to describe how
it will affect the other systems.
Use the rubric as your guide in
making illustrations. This requires
you to think critically and apply
what have you learned. You can also
be as creative as you can in making
the illustrations.