Mesosphere

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/mesosphere

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the mesopause minimum temperature?Below -143 degrees Celsius (-225 degrees Fahrenheit; 130 K)
2. What is the associated phenomena?Formation of noctilucent clouds (polar mesospheric clouds)
3. Why do shooting stars happen in the mesosphere?When meteoroids enter the mesosphere, the air friction heats them so much that they vaporize. The hot gas they leave behind creates the bright trails we call shooting stars.
4. How cold does the mesosphere get?At the top of the mesosphere, called the mesopause, temperatures can fall below -143 °C, the coldest temperatures on Earth.

Stratopause: The thermal boundary separating the stratosphere from the mesosphere, characterized by a temperature inversion cessation.
Mesopause: The upper boundary of the mesosphere, representing the coldest region of Earth's atmosphere.
Meteoroid: A small body moving in the solar system that would become a meteor if it entered Earth's atmosphere.
Noctilucent Clouds: Electric-blue clouds visible at high latitudes during twilight, formed from ice crystals in the upper mesosphere.