Earth (Courtesy to Microsoft Encarta for this photograph.)

Our Earth is made up of five different layers: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the lithosphere, mantle, and core. The atmosphere, commonly referred as air, is made up gases mainly of the gas nitrogen. Other gases include oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases. Even though the atmosphere is more than 700 miles thick, about half of its mass is located at the lower 3.5 miles. Earth's lithosphere is mainly the rocky crust and the rest is the upper mantle. It extends to depths of 60 miles deep. The hydrosphere is the oceans and inline waterways that cover 70.8 percent of Earth's surface. The mantle, crust, and core of our planet make up for most of its mass and size.

The Earth's is very interesting. It has many attributes about it. For example, Earth has magnetic poles, electricity, and a changing surface of tectonic plates. Earth's magnetic poles are not necessarily at the North and South Poles at the top of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. The north magnetic pole is currently located at the western coast of Bathurst Island. Bathurst Island is in the Canadian Northwest Territories. The south magnetic pole is currently at the edge of the Antarctic continent in Adélie Coast. The magnetic poles constantly change throughout time. Earth also has a negatively charged surface. When the air is electrically charged, lightning occurs. This is the reason why lightning flashes during thunderstorms.

Earth is the only planet so far known to have life. Even though other planets may have oxygen, water, and other factors that support life, only Earth has all of these factors. Earth gets all of its energy from the Sun. This is either indirectly or directly. For example, plants make food by making food from the Sun's light, air, and other minerals. This process is known as photosynthesis. Without sunlight, photosynthesis would not work. A way the Sun indirectly affects life is that cows eat plants. Plants use photosynthesis to make food. In this way, cows actually are getting energy from the Sun.