Standard 5: Students will understand that Earth's atmosphere interacts with and is altered by the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

Objective 1: Describe how matter in the atmosphere cycles through other Earth systems.
c. Interpret evidence suggesting that humans are influencing the carbon cycle.
d. Research ways the biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere interact with the atmosphere (e.g., volcanic eruptions putting ash and gases into the atmosphere, hurricanes, changes in vegetation).

Objective 2: Trace ways in which the atmosphere has been altered by living systems and has itself strongly affected living systems over the course of Earth’s history.
c. Compare the rate at which CO2 is put into the atmosphere to the rate at which it is removed through the carbon cycle.
d. Analyze data relating to the concentration of atmospheric CO2 over the past 100 years.
e. Research, evaluate, and report on international efforts to protect the atmosphere.