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HABITAT LEARNING LAB:

Field Investigation: Interactions Between Earth’s Spheres

Students will explore the habitat lab to find examples of Earth’s four spheres (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere). They will then answer questions about the interactions among these spheres.

Click on the maroon links to access free educational materials:

Lesson Plans | ALSDE Standards Taught

Activity Page #1: Interactions Between Earth’s Spheres (or as Word Doc) with Answer Page (coming soon)

Outdoor Activity Materials: activity pages, clipboards, pencils

Step 1: Engage through Discussion

Engage the students and capture their interests with an Interactive Q&A (or as PDF) that allows you to click through the questions one at a time. You can gauge your students’ understanding of the topic as they answer the questions. Print and use the Q&A Info Sheet (or as Word Doc) to anticipate the next question in the Interactive Q&A and to guide the conversation with the students. (Note: For the PowerPoint (PPT), click “Slide Show” & “From Beginning” to display the questions and answers separately.)

Use these tools to continue the discussion:

Step 2: Explore with Literature

As you read this book, you can further explore the topic and discuss your students’ experiences and knowledge around the topic:

The Four Spheres of Earth by Paul Larson ISBN: 978-1480747258

Step 3: Explain with an Educational Video

Use these educational videos to help explain the topic in more detail:

Crash Course Kids: Four Spheres (Part 1: Geosphere and Biosphere)
(4:00) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMxjzWHbyFM

Crash Course Kids: Four Spheres (Part 2: Hydrosphere and Atmosphere)
(3:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXh_7wbnS3A

The Four Spheres: Interactions that Shape the World
(5:13 min.)
@ https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=dUBIQ1fTRzI

Step 4: Elaborate with a Field Investigation in the Habitat Lab

Students apply what they have learned as they investigate the topic in your habitat lab and record their real-world observations on their Interactions Between Earth’s Spheres Activity Page (as a Word Doc):

Activity Tip:

 
Procedure

Indoor Discussion:
 
1. Introduce the students to the concept of Earth’s four spheres.
2. Discuss some examples of each sphere.
Outdoor Discovery:
 
3. Have the students explore the habitat lab to look for examples of each of the four spheres. They should list of draw their examples on the activity page.
4. As the students are making their observations, have them think about how the different spheres can interact with each other. They should answer the questions about the interactions among Earth’s spheres on their activity page.
 
Indoor Discussion:
 
5. Discuss the examples of the earth’s spheres that your students were able to observe in the habitat lab.
6. Have the students share what interactions among the spheres they observed in the habitat lab and other interactions that could occur in the habitat lab.
7. Discuss additional small scale and large scale interactions among the spheres.

Step 5: Evaluate with an Assessment Activity

Review and assess the students’ observations and answers on their observation pages:

  • Answer Page: Interactions Between Earth’s Spheres (coming soon)

Evaluate the students’ understanding of the topic with one of the following assessment tools:

Questions? Contact us.