Download The Layers of the Earth

The Layers of the Earth
HINT: Identify
the layers you
can in your
picture. Record
the thickness in
km of the layers
on your picture.
© Copyright 2006. M. J. Krech. All rights reserved.
PowerPoint adapted from
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Earths_layers/Earths_layers2.html The Four Layers
Crust is the layer that you live
on, and it is the most widely
studied and understood. Mantle is much hotter and has
the ability to flow. Outer Core & Inner Core
are even hotter with pressures
so great you would be
squeezed into a ball smaller
than a marble if you were able
to go to the center of the Earth!
The Four Layers and Density
Geologists theorize
that as the Earth
cooled the heavier,
denser materials
sank to the center
and the lighter, less
dense materials rose
to the top.
The Crust is made of
the lightest
materials (rock) and
the Core consists of
heavy metals (nickel
and iron).
HINT: Record the thickness
in miles of the layers on
your picture.
The Crust
The Earth's Crust is like
the skin of an apple. It is
very thin in comparison to
the other three layers. The
crust is only about 3-5
miles (8 kilometers) thick
under the oceans (oceanic
crust) and about 25 miles
(32 kilometers) thick under
the continents (continental
crust). Temperatures vary
from air temperature on top
to about 1600 degrees (870
degrees Celsius) at the
deepest parts.
The Lithospheric Plates
The crust of the Earth is broken into many pieces called
plates. The plates "float" on the soft, semi-rigid
asthenosphere.
Lithospheric Plates
Earth 100 Million Years From Now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcDed4xVD4 The Asthenosphere
The asthenosphere
is the semi-rigid part
of the middle mantle
that flows like hot
asphalt under a heavy
weight.
The Lithosphere
The crust and the upper layer of the
mantle together make up a zone of rigid,
brittle rock called the Lithosphere.
The Crust
The crust is composed of two rocks. The continental
crust is mostly granite. The oceanic crust is basalt.
Basalt is much denser than the granite. Because of this
the less dense continents ride on the denser oceanic plates. The Mantle
The Mantle is the
largest layer of the Earth.
The middle mantle is
composed of very hot
dense rock that flows like
asphalt under a heavy
weight. The movement of
the middle mantle
(asthenosphere) is the
reason that the crustal
plates of the Earth move. Convection Currents
The next time you heat anything
like soup or water in a pan you
can watch the convection
currents move in the liquid.
When the convection currents
flow in the asthenosphere they
also move the crust. The crust
gets a free ride with these
currents, like the cork in this
illustration.
Safety Caution: Don’t get your
face too close to the boiling
water! Convection Currents– a “path” of heat flow
The middle mantle "flows"
because of convection
currents. Convection
currents are caused by the
very hot material at the
deepest part of the mantle
rising, then cooling and
sinking again --repeating
this cycle over and over. Convection Current example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IUP665PQPU Mr. Parr- Changing Earth Song (YES, extra credit if all lyrics are copied and
returned within 3 days of reading this)
•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeanQ-Pu7Vk
Layers of Earth – MIT
•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAHY6965o08 SciShow – Earth’s Not-So-Juicy Center
•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHqlzCBpu_Q Convection Currents & Plate Tectonics:
•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrXAGY1dmE
Hot Cocoa & Convection
•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Hr7V1S0pI 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Earth
•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9A_HSO1TnA How do Convection Currents work?
•  The density of warm/hot fluid (gas, liquid or something that is semi-liquid like
the material of the mantle of the Earth) is less dense than cooler material. The
warmer material (fluid) will rise.
•  As the warm fluid reaches a cooler area, it become more dense (because the
molecule get closer together) and sink down.
•  The convention currents in the asthenosphere of the mantle is the mechanism
that moves the tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust.
Fill in your picture!
The Outer Core
The core of the Earth
is like a ball of very
hot metals. The
outer core is so
hot that the metals in
it are all in the liquid
state. The outer core
is composed of the
melted metals of
nickel and iron.
The Inner Core
The inner core of
the Earth has
temperatures and
pressures so great that
the metals are
squeezed together and
are not able to move
about like a liquid, but
are forced to vibrate in
place like a solid. Left Side Questions:
Copy down each of these questions in your IAN. Discuss with
your tablemates and answer in your IAN.
①  Name the 4 layers of the Earth
from the outside to the center of
Earth.
②  Have we ever seen part of the
Mantle? Explain.
③  What causes the mantle to
“flow”?
④  What are the two main metals
that make up the outer and inner
core?
⑤  Describe how the Earth’s layers
were formed.
© Copyright 2006. M. J. Krech. All rights reserved.
Complete this list of tasks on the front of your IAN.
Use your tablemates to assist you. Use a pencil in case
changes need to be made.
①  Identify following in this
picture: asthenosphere,
convection currents,
continental crust, core, crust,
inner core, lithosphere, lower
mantle, mantle, ocean crust,
outer core, and upper mantle.
②  What is the core made of?
③  List in order of most to least
dense: core (inner & outer),
crust (ocean crust,
continental crust), mantle
(upper, lower).
Complete this list of tasks on the front of your IAN.
Use your tablemates to assist you. Use a pencil in case
changes need to be made.
④  Color the four layers using
this guide: inner core – red,
outer core – red orange,
lower mantle – orange,
middle mantle – light orange,
upper mantle – yellow,
oceanic crust – light brown,
continental crust – light
brown, ocean – blue
⑤  Identify the composition,
thickness, and state of matter
of each of the 4 Layers of the
Earth (inner core, outer core,
mantle, and crust).
Check your results
Least to most dense:
inner core, outer core, lower
mantle, upper mantle, ocean
crust, continental crust