3. atmosphere

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The atmosphere is one of the four spheres. The other three spheres being the biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. The atmosphere is not only the air we breathe, but it also serves as a protective layer between Earth and harmful things such as meteorites. The atmosphere is composed of five layers. The troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and the exosphere. The troposhpere is where weather occurs and is the first layer of the atmosphere above the surface. The stratosphere is very stable and is where most aircrafts fly. The mesosphere is where meteors burn up and are stopped from hitting the Earth. The space shuttle orbits in the thermosphere. Space merges with the atmosphere in the thin upper layer of the atmosphere called the exosphere.

Allison Biegel

Page 16 of the manual

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/layers.html

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/earths-atmosphere/