HINIGARAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

HINIGARAN, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL

SUBJECT: EARTH SCIENCE-7 DATE: _________________

I. OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the student must have:
1. Described atmosphere, and
Knowledge

2. Identified the five layers of the atmosphere.

1. Estimated the height of each layer.

Skills

1. Appreciated the importance of Earth’s Atmosphere.

Attitude

I. LEARNING TASKS:
A. Subject Matter: The Atmosphere
1. Concepts
a. The Atmosphere
 The atmosphere is the blanket of air that surrounds the Earth.
b. Five Layers of atmosphere
 The troposphere is the layer closest to Earth’s surface. The temperature just above the ground is hotter than
the temperature high above. Weather occurs in the troposphere because this layer contains most of the water
vapor. Remember the water cycle? Without water, there would be no clouds, rain, snow or other weather features.
Air in the troposphere is constantly moving. As a result, aircraft flying through the troposphere may have a very
bumpy ride – what we know as turbulence. People who have used the airplane for travelling have experienced this
especially when there is a typhoon in areas where the plane passes through.
 The stratosphere is the layer of air that extends to about 50 km from Earth’s surface. Many jet aircraft flies
in the stratosphere because it is very stable. It is in the stratosphere that we find the ozone layer. The ozone layer
absorbs much of the Sun’s harmful radiation that would otherwise be dangerous to plant and animal life. The layer
between 50 km and 80 km above the Earth’s surface is called the mesosphere. Air in this layer is very thin and cold.
Meteors or rock fragments burn up in the mesosphere.
 The thermosphere is between 80 km and 110 km above the Earth. Space shuttles fly in this area and it is also
where the auroras are found. Auroras are caused when the solar wind strikes gases in the atmosphere above the
Poles. Why can we not see auroras in the Philippines?
 The upper limit of our atmosphere is the exosphere. This layer of the atmosphere merges into space.
Satellites are stationed in this area, 500 km to 1000 km from Earth.
 To summarize what has been discussed: More than three quarters of Earth’s atmosphere is made up of
nitrogen while one fifth is oxygen. The remaining 1% is a mixture of carbon dioxide, water vapour, and ozone. These
gases not only produce important weather features such as cloud and rain, but also have considerable influence on
the overall climate of the Earth, through the greenhouse effect and global warming.

B. Materials:
 PowerPoint Presentation
 Video Clip
 C. Process Skills:
 Describing
 Identifying
 Estimating

D. Social Skills:
 Participating in Activity

E. References:
 Science Learners Module 4th Quarter Unit 4-Module 2

F. Value Focus:
 Appreciation and awareness for the importance of atmosphere

III.
DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS
STRATEGIES POSSIBLE RESPONSES OF STUDENTS
A. Pre-Activity:
1. Review:
 In the previous module, you learned that the presence of
different natural resources in the Philippines is related to the
country’s location. It was also mentioned that the climate in a certain
area depends on its latitude. In this module, you are going to learn
more about how the location of the Philippines influences its climate
and weather. To prepare you for this lesson, you must first learn
about the envelope of air that surrounds the Earth where all weather
events happen – the atmosphere.

2. Motivation:
 Video about atmosphere

3. Presentation:
 Today, we will be going to discuss the Atmosphere and
its five layers

B. Activity Proper:
 Divide the class into four groups.
 Distribute Activity Sheet. (Refer Activity Sheet below)
 Let the students perform the activity.

C. Post Activity:
1. Publishing of Outputs (Reporting)

2. Analysis:
 Why does we experience global warming?

Discussion:
 Atmosphere is the blanket of air that surrounds the Earth.
 The troposphere is the layer closest to Earth’s surface. The
temperature just above the ground is hotter than the temperature
high above. Weather occurs in the troposphere because this layer
contains most of the water vapor. Remember the water cycle?
Without water, there would be no clouds, rain, snow or other
weather features. Air in the troposphere is constantly moving. As a
result, aircraft flying through the troposphere may have a very bumpy
ride – what we know as turbulence. People who have used the
airplane for travelling have experienced this especially when there is
a typhoon in areas where the plane passes through.
 The stratosphere is the layer of air that extends to about 50
km from Earth’s surface. Many jet aircraft flies in the stratosphere
because it is very stable. It is in the stratosphere that we find the
ozone layer. The ozone layer absorbs much of the Sun’s harmful
radiation that would otherwise be dangerous to plant and animal life.
The layer between 50 km and 80 km above the Earth’s surface is
called the mesosphere. Air in this layer is very thin and cold. Meteors
or rock fragments burn up in the mesosphere.
 The thermosphere is between 80 km and 110 km above the
Earth. Space shuttles fly in this area and it is also where the auroras
are found. Auroras are caused when the solar wind strikes gases in
the atmosphere above the Poles. Why can we not see auroras in the
Philippines?
 The upper limit of our atmosphere is the exosphere. This
layer of the atmosphere merges into space. Satellites are stationed in
this area, 500 km to 1000 km from Earth.
 To summarize what has been discussed: More than three
quarters of Earth’s atmosphere are made up of nitrogen while one
fifth is oxygen. The remaining 1% is a mixture of carbon dioxide,
water vapor, and ozone. These gases not only produce important
weather features such as cloud and rain, but also have considerable
influence on the overall climate of the Earth, through the greenhouse
effect and global warming.

3. Abstraction
 What is atmosphere?
 What are the five layers of atmosphere?
 What are the activities happened in each layer?

4. Application:
 Importance of Earth’s atmosphere

V. EVALUATION

Mastery Level:

Instructional Decision:
 Proceed to the next lesson.
VI. ASSIGNMENT:
 Make your own mnemonics to easy identify Possible Answers:
the five layers of atmosphere in order. (from  Troubled
top to bottom or bottom to top)  Spider
 Man
 In the table below, complete the data about  Tricked
the Earth’s atmosphere  Ellen

Possible Answers to Activity:

Q1. Based on the graph, the five layers of the atmosphere starting from the ground or Earth’s surface are:
troposphere (about 10 km), stratosphere (about 40 km), mesosphere (about 30 km), thermosphere (about
415 km), and exosphere (cannot be determined from the graph).

Q2. In the troposphere, the temperature decreases as the altitude (height of the atmosphere) increases.
In the stratosphere, at heights around 10-20 km above the ground, the temperature is almost the same.
From about 20 to 50 km above, the temperature increases.
In the mesosphere, the temperature decreases as height increases.
In the thermosphere, from heights about 87 to 100 km, the temperature change is small; it increases
gradually from about 100 to 110 km. From 110 km to the end of the layer the temperature steadily
increases with height.
The gradual increase in temperature with altitude continues to the exosphere.
(Note: Though it is not necessary to explain to students at this point the reason for the variation in
temperature, it is good for you to know that these variations are due to changes in the chemical and
physical characteristics of the atmosphere with altitude.)

Q3. In the lower part of the stratosphere, the temperature increases with height. The same is observed
starting from the thermosphere up to the exosphere.

Q4. In the troposphere, the temperature decreases as height increases (from about 15 degrees Celsius to
minus 45 degrees). A mountain climber will feel the temperature difference as he or she moves from the
ground, up. The temperature also decreases in the mesosphere (from minus 5 to about minus 90 degrees
Celsius).
Take note that the temperatures are global averages. The atmospheric temperature of countries above the
poles is different from the temperature above the equator.

Q5. (Let students repeat the trends described above.)

Q6. The layers of Earth’s atmosphere are divided based on temperature differences

Q7. Overall, the graph shows that the closer the atmospheric layer is to the Sun, e.g. thermosphere and
exosphere), the hotter the temperature. However, if one studies the temperature in the lower layer, the
reverse trend is observed. For example, in the troposphere, the temperature close to Earth is higher than
the temperature above the ground. Ask students to guess what the reason is.
(FYI: The main reason why temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere is that it is heated from
below. The atmosphere is predominantly transparent to sunlight, so the Sun heats the ground directly.
The ground warms the bottom layers of the atmosphere by radiation and by convection. This will be
discussed in the next section. The situation is like water heated in a pan on the stove--the water is hottest
at the bottom and coolest at the top.)
In general, the variations are also due to changes in the chemical and physical characteristics of the
atmosphere with altitude. However, students may not yet be ready to discuss this.

Q8. What other information about Earth’s atmosphere can you derive from the graph?
Let students notice the zigzag portion on the vertical axis (thermosphere layer). Let them explain why this
is not a straight line.