The document describes the 5 main layers of Earth's atmosphere from lowest to highest: the troposphere containing most weather and air molecules; the stratosphere containing the ozone layer that absorbs UV radiation; the mesosphere where temperatures drop drastically with little ozone or matter; the thermosphere being the hottest layer filtering gamma and x-rays; and the exosphere fading into space with almost no matter where satellites orbit.

1. Levels of the Earth’s atmosphere

2. Troposphere
• layer closest to Earth
• Contains most of the weather
• Contains most of the air molecules
• Heated by warmth of Earth’s surface

3. Stratosphere
• Layer above troposphere
• Most large planes fly here
• Ozone layer is at the top of stratosphere
• Ozone layer absorbs UV radiation from sun

4. Mesosphere
• “middle” layer of atmosphere
• Temperatures drop drastically because it contains so little ozone and
matter to absorb heat
• Meteors that enter our solar system usually burn up here

5. Thermosphere
• Hottest layer in the atmosphere
• Filters out gamma rays and x-rays from the sun

6. Exosphere
• Outermost layer of atmosphere
• Has almost no matter and eventually fades into space
• Satellites orbit the earth in this layer

7. Mnemonic to remember the layers
• Troposphere
• Stratosphere
• Mesosphere
• Thermosphere
• Exosphere
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