Have you heard the word 'sphere' before? Do you know what it means? A sphere is normally used when talking about a round shape (like a ball). Now, what do we mean when we talk about the biosphere? The prefix 'bio-' indicates something to do with life. For example, 'biology' is the study of living organisms. So, can you put these two meanings together to work out what 'biosphere' means? The biosphere is the place where life exists on planet Earth. When we talk about the biosphere, we are talking about a huge system (the whole world!) and how all the different parts work together to support life. We will look at these different parts in more detail a bit later. We can also use the term biosphere in different ways. When we speak of all life on Earth as it interacts with the non-living rocks and soil, water and air (atmosphere), we call this the biosphere. We can also call a specific part or region on Earth that supports life, a biosphere, especially when we refer to the living organisms and the environments in which they live.

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