Earths Spheres Worksheets: Geosphere Hydrosphere Atmosphere Biosphere Grades 6-8

About this resource

Teaching Earth's spheres and need pages students can actually work on? This is a complete set for grades 6-8. Students read about the four spheres two ways, a short read of 131 words and a full read that takes the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere one at a time. They label a drawn landscape, sort 18 examples by sphere, fill in a four spheres chart, write how each pair of spheres affects each other, work through cause and effect and two case studies (a volcano erupts, a river floods), answer short questions, write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph, take a 12-item quiz, do three cut-and-paste sorts and finish with exit tickets. Answer keys give the letters and a sample for every open answer.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (44 sheets)

• 26 student pages in 15 kinds of page, each with a name line and one short instruction
• 90 scored items spread over 16 scored worksheets, every answer key built from the same option lists that print on the page
• Reading 1, a short read of 131 words with a main idea box and 3 checks; Reading 2, one sphere at a time (Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, Biosphere) of 137 to 152 words each, with a main idea box, a why-it-mattered box and 2 checks each (11 checks in all)
• Topics: the four spheres and their parts; the crust, mantle and core; weathering and erosion; the water cycle; salt water and fresh water; the gases in air, the troposphere and the ozone layer; photosynthesis and decomposers; how the spheres affect one another
• 1 Before and After Check (5 questions, an answer box for each time) and 1 Before You Read page with 4 true-or-false items
• 1 Words to Know page: match 8 words (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, evaporation, erosion, groundwater, photosynthesis) to their meanings
• 1 label page: a landscape drawn for this file with 8 numbered things; students name each one and write G, H, A or B
• 2 sort-the-example pages: 18 examples in all, each sorted into one of the four spheres by letter
• 1 four spheres chart, 1 sphere pairs page (all 6 pairs of spheres, with a ruled box for an example of each), 1 cause and effect page with 4 causes
• 2 case study pages: a volcano erupts and a river floods (both invented for this file), with a table to tell what changed in each of the 4 spheres
• 6 short-answer questions across two pages, 4 ruled lines each
• 2 claim-evidence-reasoning pages: an organizer and an 18-line paragraph page
• 12-item quiz across two pages; 4 exit tickets
• 24 cut-and-paste pieces on 3 sort mats: two sorts of 6 pieces each in a 3 by 2 grid (geosphere or hydrosphere; atmosphere or biosphere) and a sort of where two spheres meet (12 pieces in a 4 by 3 grid, three full-width paste boxes)
• 5 answer keys with a sample for every open answer; 1 tracker, 1 class grid, 1 team note, 1 family page
• 1 filled example (an invented student), 1 phrase bank (17 starters in 6 groups)
• A binder cover with type-in teacher and class fields, and a page of divider tabs (Readings, Label and Sort, Cases, Keys, Records) with a spine label to cut out
• Start Here and a how-to-read-a-page page

Built For The Student Holding The Page

A "My name" line, one short instruction with a small picture cue, a plain scalloped border and big ruled boxes. Nothing on a student page is written for an adult: the keys and records are on separate teacher pages. The cut pages have their pieces edge to edge, so there are only a few straight cuts. Clip art is kept to one small picture per page: a globe, a volcano, a waterfall, a wave, wind, a forest, a rainbow, lightning, a quill, a book and a pencil. The label landscape is drawn for this file. The file prints clean in black and white.

A Short Account, Not A Full Textbook

Each reading is a plain-words summary written for this file. It covers the geosphere and its three layers, weathering and erosion, the hydrosphere and the water cycle, how much of Earth's water is salt water and how much is fresh, the gases in air and the layers of the atmosphere, the biosphere, photosynthesis and decomposers, and how the four spheres change one another. Check the readings against your own textbook; they are not tied to any standard. The two case studies describe an invented island volcano and an invented river and say so on the page. The only student in the file is an invented example, and it says so.

Type In, Or Print

The name line, every answer box, every check box and every ruled work box are type-in fields in any PDF reader: click one, type, then save. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides or PowerPoint file.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A set of Earth's spheres readings and practice pages with the record-keeping around it. It is not a timed test, a screener, a clinical tool, or a claim about any student's age or rate of progress. There is no IEP goal language or eligibility wording anywhere in the file, and no claim of alignment to any standard.

If You Want More

Plate Tectonics Worksheets | Diagram, Sort, Fill In, Short Answer 6th-8th Grade; Physical and Chemical Changes Worksheets | Sort, Fill In, Graph 6th-8th Grade; Atomic Structure Worksheets | Bohr Models, Particle Sort, Neutrons 6th-8th Grade.