Activity (explained)

Activity: Model of the atmospheric layers.

Aim. To understand the structure of the atmosphere through a visual model.

Materials. Foam sheets of different colours, scissors, glue, a ruler, a marker, cardboard backing.

Steps.

1. Decide a scale (for example 1 cm = 50 km) and cut a foam strip for each layer whose thickness is proportional to the layer's real thickness (see worked example 4).
2. Stack the strips in order from the troposphere (bottom) to the exosphere (top), colour-coding and labelling each layer.
3. Write on each layer its altitude range, temperature trend, and main features (e.g. weather, ozone, meteors burn, ionosphere/aurora, satellites).
4. Add small drawings (cloud, aircraft, meteor, satellite, aurora) at the correct heights.
5. Prepare a short description of how each layer affects life (the troposphere supports life and weather; the stratosphere's ozone absorbs UV; the mesosphere burns meteors; the thermosphere/ionosphere reflects radio waves and produces aurora; the exosphere holds satellites).

Expected result. A model in which the thermosphere and exosphere appear very thick while the troposphere is a thin layer at the bottom, supporting the idea that most of the atmosphere's mass is concentrated in a thin region near the surface.