Studying the Earth's Layers

No one has ever traveled to the center of the Earth. The inside of the Earth can physically be examined through drilling processes, but a drill will only reach certain depths. Using the principle that earthquakes create waves, scientists began using shock waves to study the interior of the Earth. These shock waves, known as seismic waves, cause vibrations that travel towards the center of the Earth. Scientists used data from these vibrations to determine characteristics of the different layers of the Earth.

Watch the following video to learn more about how Scientists have learned about the layers of the Earth.

The Study of "_"

Earth science is an overarching term for any science that is related to the Earth and Earth's systems. The formal discipline of Earth sciences may include the study of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, oceans and biosphere, as well as the solid earth. Typically, Earth scientists will use tools from physics, chemistry, biology, chronology, and mathematics to build a quantitative understanding of how the Earth system works, and how it evolved to its current state.

In this course, we are primarily exploring the following branches of Earth Science:

geology
topography
oceanography
meteorology
astronomy
environmental science

Each branch of Earth Science must have a foundational understanding of Earth's structure. To explore further into the details about the layers of the Earth and Earth's plates we will focus on geology and topography.

Earth's Four Spheres

Scientists have identified four spheres that divide the Earth. The structure of the Earth includes layers we will continue to look at but we must remember that Earth functions within systems. To fully understand how the systems function together we must consider the spheres first.

The four spheres include:

The Lithosphere - Earth's solid, rocky outer layer. This sphere is composed of continents along with smaller land masses identified as islands. The lithosphere extends under the entire ocean floor. The topography of the lithosphere varies from place to place.
The Atmosphere - Earth's outer most sphere made up of a mixture of gases that surround Earth, critical for sustaining life.
The Hydrosphere - Earth's oceans, lakes, rivers, and ice form the hydrosphere. Most of the hydrosphere is made up of the waters found in the oceans but freshwater makes up a portion of the hydrosphere too.
The Biosphere - Bio means life. All living things make up the biosphere. The biosphere extends into each of the other spheres.

Atmosphere-Biosphere-Hydrosphere-Lithosphere

Asthenosphere

A zone of the earth's mantle that lies beneath the lithosphere and consists of several hundred kilometers of deformable rock.

Oceanic Plate: Deep Sea Floor, Sedimentary Rock, Basalt
Continental Plate: Lithosphere, Granite

Understanding Science Words

Scientific, Engineering and Technical terms are often long, complicated words that can be confusing. Breaking the word down by the root word, prefix and suffix can help you discover clues to determine word meaning. For example:

Science, means to study or know (literally to cut open) academically
Engineering means ingenious, that is talented and practical, a blend of science and technology mostly occurring only one time, 'in the field'
Technology means to use skilfully - literally to treat or practice knowledge - a process often repeated, often in a laboratory or factory

The main part of a word is the word root. This is a Greek or Latin word that has a meaning.

Roots can be combined with other roots to make more complex words such as the word electrocardiogram. Many word roots actually begin and/or end with consonants. In order to make the word sound better a vowel is placed between the two words to make them easier to say.

Prefixes and suffixes may also be added to a words to modify its meaning. In fact the term prefix is made this way.

fix : Is a word root from Latin fixus which means to fasten.

pre : Is a prefix from the Latin Prae before or front.

Therefore prefix means to fasten to the front of a word.

Suffixes follow a word.

o/logy is a suffix that means The study of.

Bio is a word root that means Life. Biology - The study of life.

Common Science Words

Common Science Words
Prefix, Root, Suffix	Meaning	Example
atmo	vapor	atmosphere
-sphere	ball or round	atmosphere
bio	life	biosphere
hydr	water	hydrosphere
litho	rock, stone or petrifying	lithosphere
geo	land or earth	geosphere
hemi	half	hemisphere
pan	all	pangea
terr	earth or land	terrestrial
top	place	topography
therm	heat	thermography
trop	change	troposphere
-logy	study of	geology
-ist	person who deals with	scientist
sci	know	scientist
cyt	cell	cytology
zoo	animal	zoo
archae	old or ancient	archaeology
psych	soul or mind	psychology

Now practice identifying the meaning of these common word parts by playing the Pyramid Game. Click the white oval to start the game.

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