Earth's five systems and how they affect each other

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Measurements at one high-latitude site (example data)

   Item	Measurement
   Permafrost layer	ground frozen all year at -4 °C
   Groundwater below it	liquid water at 2 °C
   Willow shrubs	40 cm tall
   Air above	-12 °C

2. 1.

   Ari sorts the items into Earth's five systems. Which sorting is correct?

   • Permafrost: cryosphere; groundwater: hydrosphere; willows: biosphere
   • Permafrost: cryosphere; groundwater: hydrosphere; willows: geosphere
   • Permafrost: hydrosphere; groundwater: cryosphere; willows: biosphere
   • Permafrost: cryosphere; groundwater: cryosphere; willows: biosphere
3. 2.

   Mineral grains, 45; Water, 25; Air, 25; Roots, microbes and humus, 5. Kira sorts the parts of a spoonful of soil. Which system is the largest share, and how many systems does soil span?

   • Geosphere, 45%; soil spans three systems, since living things are not systems
   • Hydrosphere, 25%; water and air are the largest share together
   • Geosphere, 45%; soil belongs to the geosphere alone
   • Geosphere, 45%; soil spans four systems: rock, water, air and life

4. Arrows on a systems diagram (example)

   Arrow	From	To	Label
   1	biosphere	geosphere	roots break rock
   2	geosphere	atmosphere	eruption releases gas
   3	atmosphere	cryosphere	gas cloud dims sunlight on a glacier

5. 3.

   Jun follows the arrows. Which two make a chain from the geosphere to the cryosphere?

   • Arrow 1, then arrow 2, passing through the geosphere
   • Arrow 2, then arrow 3, passing through the atmosphere
   • Arrow 1, then arrow 3, passing through the biosphere
   • Arrow 3, then arrow 2, passing through the atmosphere

6. Signed arrows (example)

   Arrow	Sign	Meaning
   snow cover to reflected sunlight	+	more snow gives more reflection
   reflected sunlight to warming	-	more reflection gives less warming

7. 4.

   Luz reads the signed arrows. If snow cover increases, what happens to warming?

   • It increases: more snow adds mass to the ground, so there is more warming
   • It stays the same, since a plus and a minus cancel each other
   • It decreases: more snow reflects more sunlight, so there is less warming
   • It increases, since the minus sign also reverses the first arrow
8. 5.

   Over one ocean region, evaporation moves 1,200 mm of water up each year and rain returns 900 mm. What net transfer does Milo read?

   • Net 300 mm a year moves from the atmosphere to the hydrosphere
   • Net 2,100 mm a year moves from the hydrosphere to the atmosphere
   • Nothing moves, since water is neither created nor destroyed
   • Net 300 mm a year moves from the hydrosphere to the atmosphere

9. Coastal cliff log (example data)

   Year	Wave height (m)	Cliff edge (m from road)
   2015	2	40.0
   2020	2	37.5
   2025	2	35.0

10. 6.

    Noah reads the log. Which two systems interact, and which way does the arrow point?

    • Atmosphere to cryosphere: air cools the cliff, 2.5 m every 5 years
    • Hydrosphere to geosphere: waves cut the cliff back 2.5 m every 5 years
    • Geosphere only: the cliff falls apart by itself, 2.5 m every 5 years
    • Geosphere to hydrosphere: the cliff pushes the waves up 2.5 m

11. Tree roots in a granite crack (example)

    Observation	Reading
    Crack width after 10 years	4 mm wider
    Minerals in the root sap	potassium and phosphorus from the rock

12. 7.

    Pia says the roots and rock affect each other. Which pair of arrows fits both readings?

    • Hydrosphere to geosphere (crack widens); geosphere to hydrosphere (minerals dissolve)
    • Biosphere to geosphere alone: roots change rock, and rock does not change roots
    • Geosphere to biosphere (crack widens); biosphere to geosphere (minerals reach the roots)
    • Biosphere to geosphere (crack widens); geosphere to biosphere (minerals reach the roots)

13. Three observations (example data)

    Letter	Observation
    A	a river rises 30 mm after 30 mm of rain
    B	a river cuts 2 mm into its rock bed
    C	roots take up 5 L of water from the soil

14. 8.

    Ren sorts the observations. Which one shows the atmosphere changing the hydrosphere?

    • A, because rain from the atmosphere raised the river
    • B, because the rock bed controls how deep the river gets
    • C, because plants take water out of the soil
    • B, because the river is the system that acts
15. 9.

    A farmer plows 10 ha, and soil loss rises from 1 to 4 tonnes per hectare each year (example data). What does Tala conclude, and how much more soil is lost?

    • The biosphere changes the geosphere, with 40 tonnes more lost each year
    • The biosphere changes the geosphere, with 3 tonnes more lost each year
    • The biosphere changes the geosphere, with 30 tonnes more lost each year
    • The geosphere changes; the farmer is outside the systems, with 30 tonnes more lost
16. 10.

    People build a dam. A river carries 20 million tonnes of sediment a year and the dam traps 80% (example data). How much does Esme say is trapped, and which systems link?

    • 4 million tonnes; people (biosphere) change the river (hydrosphere), which changes the land (geosphere)
    • 16 million tonnes; just the hydrosphere and geosphere take part, since people are not a system
    • 16 million tonnes; the river (hydrosphere) builds the dam (biosphere) and the land changes
    • 16 million tonnes; people (biosphere) change the river (hydrosphere), which changes the land (geosphere)