Layers of the Earth Science School Projects
The earth is made up of many layers: the core, outer core, mantle and crust. It can be a difficult concept to grasp when one sees only the crust. There are layers in the earth's crust that can be as much a map of the history of mankind as the history of the earth. Teaching the students about the earth's layers can be a little challenging and fun. One method of doing so can even involve food.
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Shell Middens
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Start with the top layer. Visit museums like the Maine State Museum, which has a recreation of the shell midden, or heap, found at the Turner Farm in the early 1970s to early 1980s. There, the students will be able to view the layers of the crust charting the native Maine inhabitants who lived there before the arrival of the European settlers. Another example of the shell midden is at the Historic Spanish Point in Osprey, Florida.
The Edible Earth
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Explore the layers of the earth with the help of an egg. Hard-boil an egg. Cut the egg in half, without removing the shell. The inside of the egg will have the same layers of the earth: the shell representing the crust, the white of the egg (mantle) and the yolk (core). To explore tectonic plates, you can roll the hard-boiled egg about the table without removing the shell. When you cut open the egg, you will see that though the shells cracks, it remains in place.
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Learn About the Temperatures of the Earth
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Collect two pieces of poster board that are 22 inches by 28 inches. Draw a large thermometer on the poster board that is the nearly as tall as the as the width of the poster board. Draw a pie slice that represents a section of the earth's layers. Draw lines representing the crust, mantle and core. Make two strips from the other piece of poster board that measure 28 inches by 14 inches, and the other 8 inches by 28 inches. Use a red marker to color the smaller strip red. Cut an inch-wide strip inside the thermometer, and position the red strip inside it, facing so it is visible inside the slit. Tape the larger paper over the back of the red strip, securing it in place yet allowing it to move up and down. Make marks on the thermometer that line up with the layers you drew of the earth. The crust is 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the mantle is 1,832 degrees F and the core is 7,772 degrees F. Move the red strip up and down so that the the top arcs the temperature of the layers of the earth.
Sing
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Sing a song of the layers of the earth. Collect all the information about the layers and their temperatures. Set it to a tune the class chooses, and perform it to all who will listen.
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References
- Science PPPST: Layers of the Earth
- The Maine State Museum: 12000 Years in Maine at the Maine State Museum
- "International Handbook of Underwater Archaeology"; Carol Ruppé and Jan Barstad; 2002
- Home Training Tools: Earth Science Projects
- Education: Layers of Earth and Temperature in Each Layer
- Nevada Seismology Lab: Velocity Structure of the Earth
Resources
- Photo Credit hard boiled egg image by devilpup from Fotolia.com
