Earth's Layers
Know that Earth has layers — a thin outer crust, a thick hot mantle, and a core at the centre — and that the inside of the Earth is extremely hot
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name Earth's three main layers: crust, mantle, and core
- Explain that the crust is thin compared to the other layers
- State that Earth's interior is extremely hot — hot enough to melt rock
The lesson
You already know Earth is made of rock, and that volcanoes send hot melted rock up from deep down. That rock comes from inside Earth, which is built like layers stacked on top of each other. Earth has three main layers: the crust, the mantle, and the core.
Crack open a hard-boiled egg and look inside. The thin shell is like Earth's crust. The thick white part is like the mantle. The yolk sitting in the middle is like the core.
The crust is the thinnest layer by far. If Earth were the size of an apple, the crust would only be as thick as the apple's skin.
Deep inside Earth it is so hot that solid rock melts into liquid rock. That melted rock is what volcanoes bring to the surface.
Earth has three layers: a thin crust, a thick mantle, and a super-hot core at the very centre.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.