Lab: Earth Elements
Purpose:
To analyze elements found in the earth.
Materials:
pencil, colored pencils, graph paper
Procedure:
1. Use the information given below to complete the
chart of the elements found in the earth's crust
2. Construct a bar graph for the given percentages of each element.
3. Give each element a different color for your key. (column 5)
4. Label each bar in your graph with the symbol of the element.
Table 1: The Major Elements found in the Earth's Crust
|
Element |
Atomic # |
Symbol |
Percentage % |
Color |
|
|
8 |
|
46.5 |
|
|
|
14 |
|
27.8 |
|
|
|
13 |
|
8.1 |
|
|
|
26 |
|
5.1 |
|
|
|
20 |
|
3.6 |
|
|
|
11 |
|
2.5 |
|
|
|
19 |
|
2.5 |
|
|
|
12 |
|
2.1 |
|
|
All Others |
N/A |
1.8 |
Questions: (complete sentences)
1. What two (2) elements account for almost 75% of the earth’s crust composition?
2. What happens to the temperature as you go deeper in the earth?
3. List the four layers of the earth from the outside to the inside.
What is the earth made of?
Many people think of the earth as a ball of rock and soil. Maybe there
was a time when you did too. The earth is more than just rock and soil.
The earth is made up of all three (3) states of matter.
Solid:
Lithosphere - the solid part of the earth that is made up of rock
and soil. This is the part of the earth upon which we live. Compared to
the rest of the entire earth, the thickness of the lithosphere would be
like the thickness of the skin of an apple.
Lithosphere comes from two Greek words that mean stone (lithos) and ball (sphaira).
Liquid:
Hydrosphere - the liquid part of the earth that is composed of all the oceans (97.2%), inland seas, lakes, and streams (0.65%) and glaciers and ice sheets (2.15%). The hydrosphere is all the water found on earth. It includes the water that is below the ground and the water that is found in the atmosphere.
Hydrosphere comes from the Greek words that mean water (hydro) and ball (sphaira).
Gas:
Atmosphere - the gas part of the earth that is a blanket of air, dust,
water droplets, ice particles… that completely covers the earth's lithosphere
and hydrosphere. We actually live at the bottom of an ocean of air. Air
is a mixture of gases. About 78% of air is the element nitrogen and 21%
is the element oxygen. Both of these gases are necessary for life on the
earth. Another gas in the air is the compound carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide
is less than 0.04% of the air, but it is very important for plant life.
As you go higher in the atmosphere, the air gradually gets less dense,
or thinner. There is no upper limit to the atmosphere. It gradually gets
so thin that it fades away into outer space.
The earth's atmosphere is divided into four (4) zones or regions. (see drawing on the right)
Atmosphere comes from the Greek words for vapor or smoke (atmos) and ball (sphaira).
Solid, Liquid, Gas:
Biosphere - includes part of the earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere,
and atmosphere. The biosphere is the region near the earth's surface where
all life is found.
Biosphere comes from the Greek words for life (bios) and ball (sphaira).
* One of the important ideas to remember is that there is a constant exchange of energy and materials (matter) among the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. This exchange of energy and materials takes place at their boundaries or between each sphere.
Questions
How do the earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere show that the earth is made up of solids, liquids, and gas?
What is constantly happening at the boundaries of the different spheres in question 1?
The most abundant gas (element) in the air (atmosphere) is ____________________.
What do the following words mean?
Lithos __________ Hydro ___________ Atmos _______________ Bio __________
Which layer which contains the ozone?_____________________________________
Which layer does all the weather occur in? __________________________________
What zone meets the earth's crust? _________________________________________
Rank the following from greatest amount of water to least amount of water - glaciers, lakes and streams, oceans 1____________ 2____________ 3____________
|| back ||
