Lesson Plan: The Layers of the Atmosphere

Students will be able to

• recall that the atmosphere can be divided into layers,
• recall the names of the major layers of the atmosphere: the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere, of which the latter two make up the ionosphere,
• recall the names of the boundaries between the major layers of the atmosphere: the tropopause, the stratopause, and the mesopause,
• recall that the troposphere is where most weather events happen,
• recall that almost all life on Earth exists in the troposphere,
• recall that pressure greatly decreases from the bottom of the troposphere to the top,
• recall that the rate of temperature decreases from the bottom of the troposphere to the top,
• recall the height of the troposphere,
• recall that the troposphere contains most of the water vapor in the atmosphere,
• recall the height of the stratosphere,
• recall that the temperature in the stratosphere increases with height,
• recall that the stratosphere has a lot of ozone in it,
• recall that air currents in the stratosphere move mainly horizontally,
• recall the height of the mesosphere,
• recall that the temperature in the mesosphere decreases with height,
• recall the height of the thermosphere,
• recall that the temperature in the thermosphere increases with height,
• recall that the ionosphere can be used to deflect radio waves for communication,
• recall that some satellites orbit in the exosphere.