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Biosphere

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A stunning view of Earth from space, taken by astronauts during the Apollo 17 mission.

The biosphere is the big, beautiful world of all living things on our planet. It includes every plant, animal, and tiny creature — even the ones you can’t see! All of these living things are connected to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we walk on.

Imagine Earth wrapped in a giant, round shell. That shell is the biosphere. Inside it, plants catch sunlight to make food, and this energy helps almost everything else stay alive. The biosphere has been around for a very, very long time — scientists think it started more than 3.5 billion years ago when the first tiny life appeared.

People have even made their own small biospheres to study how nature works. One famous example is Biosphere 2 in Arizona, where scientists watch plants and animals live together in a special place. Other scientists wonder if there might be biospheres on planets far away, like in our Milky Way galaxy. One day, we might even create new biospheres on places like Mars!

Images

A colorful map showing the distribution of plant life across the world's oceans and lands, helping scientists study how much food nature produces.
Ancient layered rock formation created by tiny ocean microorganisms over millions of years ago.
A beautiful stretch of sand and ocean at Ninety Mile Beach in Victoria, Australia, with soft clouds in the sky.
A large Xenophyophore, a unique single-celled organism found on the ocean floor, filtering particles from the sediment.
A colorful animated map showing how plant life and ocean plankton change over time, created using satellite data.
Biosphere 2 is a large research facility in Arizona designed to study how humans can live and work in closed environments.
A close-up of Aegopodium podagraria leaves, commonly known as ground elder, shown against a black background.
A flag celebrating Earth Day, symbolizing our planet and the importance of environmental protection.
A stunning view of our planet Earth from space, showing Africa, Antarctica, and the Arabian Peninsula.
A Rüppell's Vulture soaring in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Biosphere, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Tap any image to view credits and license.