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Earth Science Lab Name: Block: Date: Bringing the Earth Down to Size Background Information: When you observe pictures of the Earth taken from the space shuttle, you will probably be surprised by what you see. Earth may look nearer than you expected, or you may have thought you would see more detail. This activity will help you better visualize how Earth’s larger structures compare with the actual size of the Earth. Purpose: 1. To construct a scale model of the layers of the Earth. 2. To compare various heights and thicknesses of the layers of the Earth to the radius of the Earth. Materials: Each group will need a cut piece of newsprint paper, pencils, colored pencils, string, meter sticks, and tape. Procedures: DO NOT SPEND ALL OF CLASS TIME COLORING YOUR MODEL!!! 1. Tape a piece of notebook paper to the end of your large newsprint paper. This is your paper extension. Near the bottom of your paper extension make a dot and label it “center of the Earth”. 2. Calculate the scale distances for the different layers of the Earth and list in the table below. To do this, divide the average thickness by 100. LAYER Inner Core AVG. THICKNESS (km) 1300 Outer Core 2250 Mantle 2900 Crust 30 SCALE (cm) 3. Using a pencil mark the layers of the Earth onto your newsprint based on your calculations. Begin from the center of the Earth and add each successive layer. 4. Color and label each layer using the following key: DO NOT SPEND ALL OF CLASS TIME COLORING! Crust= Brown Mantle= Red Outer Core= Orange Inner Core= Yellow 5. The Lithosphere is a special layer that includes the crust and a small portion of the upper mantle. It is the rigid outer shell of the Earth. Just below the lithosphere is another special layer, a region of the mantle called the Asthenosphere, where, because of enormous heat and pressure, the solid rock acts like silly putty. Calculate the scale distances for these two layers in the table below (divide the average thickness by 100). LAYER Lithosphere AVG. THICKNESS (km) 100 Asthenosphere 200 SCALE (cm) 6. Draw the boundaries for these layers using a black DOTTED LINE. Begin from the surface of the Earth for the lithosphere and measure down. From the end of the lithosphere, measure and label the asthenosphere. Label the layers. 7. The Earth’s atmosphere does not end abruptly; it tapers off and gradually becomes the near vacuum of interplanetary space. Because of the pull of gravity, over 99% of the total mass of the atmospheric gases is found within the lower 50 km. Calculate the scale distances for the atmosphere using the table below (divide the average thickness by 100). Draw each layer and label it using the surface of the Earth as your starting point and go up. Add each layer, do not start from the surface for each! LAYER AVG. THICKNESS (km) Troposphere 16 Stratosphere 50 Mesosphere 85 Thermosphere 600 SCALE (cm) 8. Color the entire atmosphere BLUE. 9. Calculate the distances for each of the points below (divide the average height/depth by 100). Draw a picture to represent each item. OBJECT Altitude of Space Shuttle AVG Height/Depth (km) 300 Altitude of Cruising Plane 12.2 Deepest Ocean Trench 15 Mount Everest 10 SCALE (cm) NAME: ________________________________________ Block: ________________ Analysis Questions: Use what you’ve learned in this lab and your INB to answer the questions below. 1. Measure the model you just made using a meter stick. What is the radius of the Earth from the center to the surface in km? (Hint: you divided each measurement by 100 to convert to cm.) 2. The circumference of the Earth is approximately 40,000 km. What percentage of the Earth’s circumference is represented by the width of your newsprint? (Hint: measure width of paper and then convert to Km) 3. List all 6 layers of the Earth from least dense to most dense. ____________ 4. What causes the layers of the Earth to be separated out by density? 5. Which layer of the Earth does life exist in? compare to the radius of the Earth? How does the thickness of this layer 6. In which layers of the Earth do you think the most energy transfer happens? (Keep in mind we are a rocky body that floats in space!) ______ 7. What layer of the Earth is made of semi-molten material? 8. Is the inner core made of solid or liquid material? Why/how? 9. What layer of the Earth do both the asthenosphere and lithosphere exist in? 10. According to your data, what layer does the lithosphere “ride” or “float” on top of? 11. Why would the lithosphere be described as “floating” on top of this layer? 12. According to your data, what is the thickest layer of the Earth? 13. What layer of the Earth contains “the center of the Earth”? 14. With your group members name three features or manmade structures on the Earth’s surface that we would consider to be enormous (NOT listed from above): 15. Now look at your large model of the layers of the Earth and compare the size of the features you named with the actual size of the Earth.