Earth's Layers Online Activity
Directions: Dig into the Lithosphere. Go to the web site The Earth's Layers. Check out the online videos Compositional and Mechanical Layers of the Earth and Shake, Rattle and Slide website

Use the links provided to develop your answers to the questions.

1. The planet we call Earth has how many layers? ____________

Write them in order from the center to the outside of the planet.

2. Use this diagram to answer these questions: (What's inside the earth?)

Name the thickest layer ...

Name the thinnest layer ...

Write as a fraction the relationship of the thinnest layer to the thickest layer.

Calculated to challenge. Perhaps you have imagined digging a tunnel through the earth that comes out the other side.
Figure it out ... How many miles would you have to dig?

3. Write 4 facts about the Earth's Crust.

a.

b.

c.

d.

4. The crust and the upper layer of the mantle together make up a zone of rigid, brittle rock called the ...

5. Write three facts about the Mantle.

a.

b.

c.

6. What are the Convection Currents?

7. Name two metals found in the Outer Core.

The border between the Outer core and the Inner Core is how many miles beneath the crust?

8. The Inner core is under so much pressure it does not move like a liquid, it ...

Write the temperature of the center of the Earth.

9. A scientist who studies rocks is called a ...

What does a Geomorphologist study?

10. Here is a list of the 8 most common elements in the earth's crust. Oxygen, Magnesium, Iron, Silicon, Aluminum, Potassium, Sodium and Calcium. Use your research skills to find out how abundant each one is in the crust. Write the amount by percentage. Example Oxygen - 47% Portion of the crust. List them in some order, you decide what order to use. Yes, you may use their element symbol to list them, rather than write out the name.

Select one of the elements in the list.
Describe one way it impacts people's lives.

11. Describe the evidence scientists have that the Earth's tectonic plates are moving.

12. How do scientists use maps to study the earth? USGS Global Crustal Database

Dig deeper: Plate Tectonics study unit | Explore Plates on the Move at Oology

Last Extinction - Nova Science video. Discover what scientists have considered based on layers in the earth.

How does the lithosphere interact with or impact one of these: Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, Biosphere, Cryosphere?

Science - Observation Skill Builders > 44 projects | Scientists study Earth's missing crust

For Fun - Learn the Layers of the Earth song from educational rap music site.

The $1 billion mission to reach the Earth's mantle - CNN

Is the Answer Blowing in the Wind - Siting a Wind Farm project

"The fascination of any search after the truth lies not in the attainment...but in the pursuit,
where all the powers of the mind and character are brought into play and are absorbed by the task.
One feels oneself in contact with something that is infinite and one finds joy that is beyond expression
in sounding the abyss of science and the secrets of the infinite mind." Dr. Florence Bascom, geologist

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Developed and Posted by Cindy O'Hora, 10/2004 updated 10/2013
Released to public domain for noncommercial use in honor of Florence Bascom

Save a tree - use a Digital Answer Format - Highlight the text. Copy it. GO Edit .. Copy. Paste it in a new word processing document. Go Edit .. Paste. Save the word processing document in your folder. Answer on the word processing document in a contrasting color (not yellow) or font (avoid Symbol, , or other ornate artistic fonts). Save frequently as you work. I have never liked losing my work. You will not like it either. Enter your name and the date in the header, of the document. Submit your assignment via a class electronic dropbox or email attachment. Bad things happen. Save a copy of your work on your computer.

Proofread your responses. It is funny how speling errors and typeos sneak in to the bets work. Make Your Own Printed answer sheet.

Tech Tip: Working in a group or in two different places like the library & home? You do not have to be physically together to work together. Watch Google Docs video TAI - How could you use free, Google Docs to do a project? How would this facilitate group projects?