Guarantee successful learning about the atmosphere’s layers with this poster, fact sheet and out-of-this-world resource 

A diagram showing the five layers of the Earth's atmosphere and features of each

Source: © Dan Bright

The atmosphere surrounds and protects Earth, making life possible.

Earth was formed around 4.6 billion years ago. When the Earth was very young, carbon dioxide (CO2) made up most of the atmosphere and there was no free oxygen (O2).

Over billions of years, oxygen levels increased (and carbon dioxide decreased) because plants grew and used the carbon dioxide for photosynthesis while producing oxygen.

Did you know …?

Oceans formed when the water vapour in Earth’s early atmosphere cooled and condensed. Carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans and became locked up in sedimentary rocks.

Nitrogen gas (N2) formed when the ammonia (NH3) in Earth’s early atmosphere reacted with the oxygen produced by plants. Nitrogen is a very stable gas, which is why it now makes up most of the atmosphere.

Two pie charts. On the left is Earth's early atmosphere which is 95% carbon dioxide. On the right is Earth's current atmosphere which is 78% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen. They both have traces of ammonia and methane.

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  • Preview of the Earth's atmosphere infographic poster on a green background

    Infographic poster and fact sheet

    Display the poster in your classroom or on a projector. Alternatively print it and use as a handout.

  • Preview of the Earth's atmosphere resource on a green background

    Earth's atmosphere classroom activity

    Learners use the infographic poster and fact sheet to complete a DART (Directed Activity Related to Text) activity with three levels of scaffold. The DART activities include reading comprehension, creative writing, data analysis and calculations.

    • Unscaffolded student activity and worksheet as MS Word or pdf
    • Partially scaffolded student activity and worksheet as MS Word or pdf
    • Fully scaffolded student activity and worksheet as MS Word or pdf
    • Teacher notes and answers as MS Word or pdf

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Poster, fact sheet and DART (Directed Activity Related to Text). Display the poster in your classroom or on a projector. Alternatively, print it out and use it as a handout. 

The accompanying DART resource draws on information from the poster and fact sheet, alongside learners’ own knowledge, to complete reading comprehension, creative writing and data handling activities with three levels of scaffold.

Today, Earth’s atmosphere has five main layers; let’s take a journey through them.

Did you know …?

Ozone (O₃) is a molecule made up of three oxygen atoms. It’s relatively rare in the atmosphere but its presence is vital. Human activities, particularly the release of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), have damaged the ozone layer. CFCs mostly come from air conditioning and refrigeration.

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Did you know …?

The Kármán line – considered to be the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space – is 100 kilometres above Earth’s surface, in the lower part of the thermosphere. When astronauts cross the Kármán line they officially become space travellers.

 All earth illustrations © Dan Bright 

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