EarthLayersFoldable

TheLayersoftheEarth

Copyright 2006. M. J. Krech. All rights reserved.

TheFourLayers
TheEarthiscomposedoffour
differentlayers.Thecrustis
thelayerthatyouliveon,and
itisthemostwidelystudied
andunderstood.Themantle
ismuchhotterandhasthe
abilitytoflow.Theouter
coreandinnercoreare
evenhotterwithpressuresso
greatyouwouldbesqueezed
intoaballsmallerthana
marbleifyouwereabletogo
tothecenteroftheEarth!
 TheCrust
TheEarth'sCrustislikethe
skinofanapple.Itisverythin
incomparisontotheother
threelayers.Thecrustisonly
about35miles(8kilometers)
thickundertheoceans
(oceaniccrust)andabout25
miles(32kilometers)thick
underthecontinents
(continentalcrust).

Thecrustiscomposedoftworocks.Thecontinental
crustismostlygranite.Theoceaniccrustisbasalt.
Basaltismuchdenserthanthegranite.Becauseofthis
thelessdensecontinentsrideonthedenseroceanic
plates.
 TheLithosphere
Thecrustandtheupperlayerofthe
mantletogethermakeupazoneofrigid,
brittlerockcalledtheLithosphere.
 TheLithosphericPlates

ThecrustoftheEarthisbrokenintomanypiecescalled
plates.Theplates"float"onthesoft,semirigid
asthenosphere.
The Asthenosphere

Theasthenosphere
isthesemirigid
partofthemiddle
mantlethatflows
likehotasphalt
underaheavy
weight.
TheMantle
TheMantleisthe
largestlayeroftheEarth
at2900kmthick.The
middlemantleis
composedofveryhot
denserockthatflowslike
asphaltunderaheavy
weight.Themovementof
themiddlemantle
(asthenosphere)isthe
reasonthatthecrustal
platesoftheEarthmove.
 ConvectionCurrents

Themiddlemantle"flows"becauseofconvection
currents.Convectioncurrentsarecausedbytheveryhot
materialatthedeepestpartofthemantlerising,then
coolingandsinkingagainrepeatingthiscycleoverand
over.
TheOuterCore
ThecoreoftheEarth
islikeaballofvery
hotmetals.The
outercoreisso
hotthatthemetalsin
itareallintheliquid
state.Theoutercore
iscomposedofthe
meltedmetalsof
nickelandiron.
 OuterCore:
Radius:3486kilometers
Composedofironandnickel.
AverageDensity:11g/cm^3
TheInnerCore
Theinnercoreof
theEarthhas
temperaturesand
pressuressogreatthat
themetalsare
squeezedtogetherand
arenotabletomove
aboutlikealiquid,but
areforcedtovibratein
placelikeasolid.
 InnerCore:
Thicknessis1,216km
AstheEarthrotates,theliquidoutercore
spins,creatingtheEarthsmagneticfield.
 TheEnd

Inyourlabgroup,
discussthefollowing
question:

Haveweeverseen
partoftheMantle?
Explain.

Copyright 2006. M. J. Krech. All rights reserved.

 QuestionSheet
Useyourfoldableandthetextbook(pages
7273)toanswerthequestions.
Turnintobasket
Pickupthelabsheet
 TravelingQuiz
YourgroupwillneedONEsheetofpaper.
WriteALLteammembersnamesonitandthehour.
Person#1willstart,thepaperwillrotateto#2andsoon.
Continueuntilthequiziscomplete.

TASK:drawandlabelthelayersoftheearth
Extrapointsawardedforadditionalandcorrectinformation
Layers of the
Earth
 Howfarhavescientistsdrilledintothe
earth?

7.6miles
Only0.2%ofthedistancetotheearths
core
 Mystery Boxes
In your lab groups, determine what
is inside the box
How does this activity connect to
the layers of the Earth?
 Howdoweknowsomuchabout
whatsunderEarthssurface?
ThroughINDIRECTEVIDENCE,mostly
fromseismicwavescausedbyearthquakes
(moreonthislaterthissemester...)
Sometimesindirectevidenceistheonlyoption
forscientiststodevelopatheory

Letsgiveitatry...
 So...hereswhatscientistsknow...

Pleaseaddthefollowingnotestothenotes
sectionofyourbinder.

Itissuggestedthatyouwritedownthe
underlinednotes
 Earths4mainLayers
Crust
Mantle
OuterCore
InnerCore
 TheCrust
Thecrust,theoutermostlayer,isrigidandvery
thin
OceanicCrust(beneaththeocean)isabout5
kmthick
ContinentalCrust(underland)averagesabout
30kmand100kmdeep.

Liketheshellofahardboiledegg
 Mantle
TheMantleisadense,hotlayerofsemisolid
rockapproximately2,900kmthick.
Themantlecontainsmoreiron,magnesium,
andcalciumthanthecrust
ishotteranddenserbecausetemperatureand
pressureinsidetheEarthincreasewithdepth.
Asacomparison,themantlemightbethought
ofasthewhiteofaboiledegg.

TheCrust
thecore,isnearlytwiceasdenseasthemantle
becauseitscompositionismetallic(iron
nickelalloy).
theEarth'scoreismadeupoftwodistinct
parts:
a2,200kmthickliquidoutercore
a1,250kmthicksolidinnercore

AstheEarthrotates,theliquidoutercorespins,
creatingtheEarth'smagneticfield.
 TheLithosphere
Lithosphere=
thecrustandthe
uppermostpart
ofmantle

TheAsthenosphere
Asthenosphere=thefluidlikeportionofthe
mantlethatliesjustbelowlithosphere.The
lithospherefloatsontheasthenosphere
 PracticeQuizQuestion
Canyoulabelthefollowinglayers?
 JourneyintotheEarth
Youandyourpartnerarecreatingarobotormachinethatcan
carryyoubothintothecoreoftheEarth.
1.)Designtherobot(ormachine)orspaceship.Whatfactors
musttherobotprotectyoufrom?Listthefactors.
2.)Drawapictureofyourrobot,labellingpartsthatcanhelp
yousurviveandtravelintotheEarth.
3.)Onceyouhavecreatedyourrobot(orspaceship)writea
storyaboutyourtraveltothecore,makesureyoudescribe
whatyousawforeachlayer.Youmustincludehowmany
kilometersinsidetheEarthyouareinforeachlayerandwhat
metalsyouaresampling.
 JourneyIntoTheEarth
Youandyourpartnerareengineersandscientists
whoareabouttocreatethefirsteverspaceshipto
travelINTOtheEarth.Untilnow,Scientistsonly
knowabouttheEarthsinteriorbystudyingseismic
waves.Todayyouwilldesignaspaceshipthatwill
travelintotheEarth.Youwillcollectthemetalsthat
arefoundineachlayerandbringitbacktothelab,
whichislocatedatNorthMontereyCountyHigh
School,onthecrustoftheEarth.
 Whattodo:
FIRST:
yourpartner:CREATEAROBOTORSPACESHIP.You
willWRITE1.)Factorsthatyouandthespaceship(or
robot)willneedprotectionfrominordertosurvive.
(Example:TemperaturesinsidetheEarth?Pressure?
Currents?Gravity?)
SECOND:YouwilldesignandDRAWyourspaceshipor
robotandLABELthepartsthatyouhavedesignedthat
willhelpyoubattleandovercomesuchfactors.
 Whattodonext:
THIRD:YouwillWRITEASTORYaboutyourjourney
intotheEarth.Youmustinclude:
Nameofeachlayer
Describewhatyousawineachlayer
Howfarinsidetheearth(Howmanykilometers)youwere
Whichmetalsyoucollectedineachlayer.
Youcanandshoulduseyourfoldableforthisproject!
FOURTH:YouwillbePRESENTINGyourrobot/spaceship
andstorytotheCLASS!Youmustspeakforatleast2
minutes!