Name ___________________
Atmosphere Web Quest
Date __________
Bell ________
Part 1 – Layers of the Atmosphere – Learning Target 1
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/layers.html
1. Name the five layers of the atmosphere:
a. ________________________________________
b. ________________________________________
c. ________________________________________
d. ________________________________________
e. ________________________________________
(some scientists consider this layer to be part of space)
2. Click on the words “atmosphere” and each layer of the atmosphere to fill in the blanks below:
a. What are the two main gases found in the atmosphere?
1. ________________________________________
2. ________________________________________
b. The troposphere is the ________________________________ region of the Earth's
atmosphere and is where ____________________________________ occurs.
c. The stratosphere contains the ____________________________________ which absorbs
___________________________________________. Look at the diagram:
____________________________ and ____________________________ can fly in the
stratosphere.
d. As you go higher in the mesosphere, the temperature becomes ____________________.
Scientists do not know much about the mesosphere, but they do know that
_________________________ burn up in this layer.
e. The thermosphere contains a layer of charged particles called the
_____________________________ which makes communication by
______________________ possible and is home to the ______________________
(Northern Lights). This is the layer in which
________________________________________________ fly.
f. In the exosphere the atmosphere is very _______________ as it begins to fade into space.
Part 2 – Gasses present in the atmosphere– Learning Target 4
1. Atmosphere - http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/overview.html
a. What two gasses make up most of Earth’s Atmosphere, and how much? (name and %)
_________________________________
___________________________________
b. Click on Greenhouse gasses. List the four major types of greenhouse gasses (These are all
Natural)
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
b. Almost all of the other gases in Earth’s Atmosphere are ____________________ and
_____________________.
2. Click on “Greenhouse Effect”.
a. Where does all the energy come from that contributes to the Greenhouse Effect?
______________________________________________________________________
b. Without the greenhouse effect, earth’s temperature would be below freezing. Why do you
think this is? ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
c. Describe the greenhouse effect using your own words or pictures.
Part 3 – Gravity’s Effect on the Atmosphere - Learning Target 5
http://quest.nasa.gov/aero/planetary/atmospheric/gravity.html
1. Describe how gravity is used to hold the atmosphere to the Earth? ____________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. When Earth was forming, it’s gravity was strong enough to hold onto what two gasses that
are the majority of our atmosphere? ___________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________