Eco-Spheres Environmental Educational Posters & Charts
for science & social studies classrooms, home schoolers, offices.

An ecosphere is a region of the universe that is capable of supporting life, we are sure of only one ecosphere- our planet, Earth.

Scientists have identified and named anthrosphere (mankind), atmosphere (the gaseous mass surrounding a celestial body), biosphere (Earth and its atmosphere that support life), geosphere (the solid part of Earth), and hydrosphere (water) in order to understand the relationships between living organisms and the environment they live in.

Anthrosphere

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Anthrosphere - Pollution

Atmosphere

Poster Text: Sphere Information.
The Earth is surrounded by a layer of air known as the atmosphere which separates it from space. The atmosphere consists of nitrogen (77%), oxygen (20%), argon (1%), carbon dioxide (.03%), and water vapor (0.4%). The atmosphere is broken down into four distinct layers. The troposphere, where almost all weather occurs, is the lowest layer and extends about 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) from Earth's surface. The stratosphere, extending to 31 miles (49.9 kilometers) contains the ozone layer which protects life on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. The mesophere sphere extends up to 59 miles (85.3 kilometers). The thermosphere, the final layer contains up to around 350 miles (581.3 kilometers.)

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Atmosphere: Weather & Climate

Poster Text: Nearly all weather events take place in the troposhere, the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface. The difference between weather and climate is that weather is a snapshot of the present conditions in the atmosphere, while climate is the history of that weather over a specified time. Six elements of weather are used to record the conditions of the atmosphere. 1. Temperature 2. Humidity 3. Wind 4. Barometric Pressure 5. Cloud Cover 6. Precipitation

Atmosphere: Oxygen Cycle

Poster Text: The oxygen cycle is essential for nearly all forms of life on Earth. Plants, animals, and many microorganism require oxygen to carry out the energy-yielding metabolic process known as respiration. Oxygen is use in cellular respiration, resulting in the release of energy which as been stored as food. Plants and other photosynthetic organisms utilze water and carbon dioxide to produce "food" in the form of carbohydrates like glucose. Oxygen is released into the atmosphere as a by-product of photosynthesis. Virtually all the atmospheric oxygen on which living things depend is a product of photosynthesis. The oxygen is taken in, used by the cells in respiration reactions, and carbon dioxide is released as a waste. The carbon dioxide is in turn used for photosynthesis, and tg cycle continues.

Biosphere

Poster Text: Sphere Information.
The biosphere is the Earth's sphere of life. It is in this thin system that all living origanisms exist, depending on each other for survival. The biosphere has a hierarchy known as the food chain. This first tier, upon which all life is dependents, consists of organisms whose primary source of energy is photosynthisis. From that tier energy and mass transferred from one tier to another through eating and decaying. Living organisms also derive energy and nutrients from non-being sources such as soil, water and oxygen. ... The biosphere can be subdivided into ecosystems or biomes where opportunites of organisms are physically linked to their environemnts. Some examples of biomes are deserts, grasslands and rain forests.

Geosphere

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Geosphere: Rock Cycle

Poster Text: In the rock cycle, rock is neither created nor destroyed, but is continually recycled. Rock changes both physically and chemically, and is redistributed and transformed. Under the crust of the Earth is a circulating layer of liquid molten rock known as magma. When magma cools and solifies underground or above ground it becomes igneous rock. Igneous rock, through heat and pressure can be transformed into metamorphic rock. Once rocks are ... on the surface of the Earth, weather and erosion produce sediment. The sediment is transported and deposited in layers, which undergo compaction to become sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock can also become exposed to the same process that created it. Some rock becomes magma again through tectonic areas known as subduction zones. It is at these zones that one tectonic plate is pushed down under another....

Geosphere: Plate Tectonics

Poster Text: The earth upon which we stand may seem solid and still, but in fact is in constant motion. That motion is explained in the theory of plate tectonics. The outermost layer of the Earth, the lithosphere, contains the continental crust and oceanic crusts. Those crusts are divided into separate land masses know as plates. These plates are floating on a molten layer of magma and rock called the ... and moving toward each other due to ....

Hydrosphere

Poster Text: The Hydrosphere encompasses all forms of water found within the Earth's spheres. Nearly 75% of the Earth is covered in water, including oceans, lakes, rivers, streams and underground water. Water can be found in the atmosphere as clouds, in the geosphere deep underground and in the biosphere inside ever living organism. Water is the basis for all life on Earth.
Water exists on Earth in all three chemical states, solid (ice), liquid (water) and gas (water vapor). Earth is the only place in our solar system where liquid water has been discovered. This gives Earth its nickname as the "Blue Planet." The amount of water in the hydrosphere has largely remained unchanged since the beginning of time. It moves from sphere to sphere, it changes forms, taken in by plants and animals, but never really disappears.

• rivers posters

Hydrosphere: Water Cycle

Poster Text: The movement and endless recycling of water throughout the Earth's ecosystem is known as the water cycle, or hydrologic cycle. Water from the Earth's surface is taken up into the atmosphere in vapor form. The water vapor condenses to form clouds and eventually returns to Earth as rain, sleet, hail or snow, depending upon atmospheric conditions. Water is then used by organisms, or flows through rivers to larger bodies of water such as oceans and lakes.

• beverages / food posters
• aquatic creatures posters

Biomes Overall

Poster Text: To define a BIOME, first examine the BIOSPHERE of our planet. The BIOSPHERE is the part of the Earth's atmosphere, crust and waters that support life. It extends nearly 8 kilometers above the Earth's surface and another 8 kilometers down into the planet's crust and oceans.
For study purposes, scientists have divided the vast BIOSHPERE into smaller units. Often these units are called BIOMES. An ecological commuity that can be distinguished by its climate, plant and animals is called a BIOME.
The Earth has many BIOMES, each varying in temperature, landmass, currents, precipitations, amount of light and so on. These variances create distinct habitats, forming complex communities of interdependent plant and animals.
Scientists do not agree on the number and types of BIOMES. In nature, similar organisms often exhibit unique qualities that set them apart, but not enough to distinguish them completely from others. The same is true for BIOMES. A diciduous forest may contain an unusual number of coniferous trees, but not enough to make it a coniferous forest.

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