Reading comprehension and vocabulary activity
Read the text below and try to memorize the information and details
about the atmosphere.
The atmosphere surrounding
Earth is made up of gas mixtures. The most common are nitrogen, oxygen and
carbon dioxide and their amounts change in different places on Earth.
The atmosphere puts
pressure on the planet. This pressure becomes less and less the further away
from surface you are. When we think of the atmosphere, we mostly think of the
part that is closest to us.
The atmosphere is divided
into five layers. It is thickest near the surface and thinner as it merges
with space.
The troposphere is the
first layer above the surface and contains half of the Earth's atmosphere. It
extends up from the surface of Earth for about 10 kilometers. This
is the layer where airplanes fly. About three-fourths of our atmosphere’s air
is found here and at any moment in time, its overall condition can change. These changes are what we know
as weather.
Just above the troposphere
is the stratosphere. It extends to about 30/ 40 kilometers above
Earth’s surface. Most of the planet’s ozone layer is in this colder, drier
layer. This gas helps keep some of the sun’s dangerous radiation from
reaching us. Many jet aircrafts also fly in the stratosphere because it is
very stable.
If we continue upward, the
next layer is the mesosphere, which extends up to about 50 kilometers above
Earth’s surface. The mesosphere is extremely cold. It is within this layer
that meteors or rock fragments burn up.
Next is the thermosphere
about 300
kilometers away, as we get closer to the sun.
Temperatures in the thermosphere can be over 1,500º Celsius. The thermosphere is a layer with auroras. It
is also where the space shuttle orbits.
Finally we come to the extremely
thin exosphere where the atmosphere merges into space beyond the 300 kilometers.
This is the upper limit of our atmosphere.
Together, the layers of our
atmosphere protect Earth and provide the conditions needed to support life.
Source:
Cambridge University, Weather Channel, Wikipedia
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Can you answer the following questions without going back to the
passage? Check your guesses afterwards with the text.
1) Which layer of the
atmosphere has most of the air?
2) If you were to send a
rocket 25 kilometers
up into the air, which layer of the atmosphere would it be in?
3) What are the most common
gases in Earth’s atmosphere?
4) What important barrier is
there in stratosphere? Why is it important?
5) What is the reason why
many meteors do not reach the Earth?
6)What are the main
characteristics of the exosphere?
7)Where can temperatures
reach 1,500º Celsius?
8)Where is there more
atmospheric pressure, in the mesosphere or in the stratosphere?
9)In which layer do airplanes
fly?
10)Which layer is thicker,
the troposphere or the stratosphere?
Earth's Atmosphere Vocabulary Challenge – Individal, pair, or group
competition.
What
do you call...?
a) the force resulting from
a column of air pressing down on an area.
b) the invisible rays that are part of the energy
that comes from the sun. they can burn the eyes, hair, and skin.
c) the transfer of energy
through empty space; the way by which energy from the sun reaches Earth.
d) the process by which
heat from the sun is trapped by gases in Earth's atmosphere, which results
dangerous.
e) a scientific instrument
used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure.
f) a form of oxygen that
has three oxygen atoms in each molecule.
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