Earth's Layers
Know Earth's three main layers: a thin rocky crust, a thick hot mantle that is mostly solid rock, and a metal core at the centre. Know that some rock below the surface can melt.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name Earth's three main layers: crust, mantle, and core
- Explain that the crust is much thinner than the mantle and core
- State that Earth is very hot inside, most mantle rock is solid, and some rock below the surface can melt
1 · Read
You have learned about Earth's rocky ground and volcanoes that bring melted rock up. Earth has three main layers. The crust is the thin, rocky outside. Below it is the mantle, a thick layer of hot rock. The mantle lies between the crust and the core. The core is mostly metal at the centre.
An adult cuts a cooled hard-boiled egg in half. Its shell can stand for the crust, the white for the mantle, and the yolk for the core. The model shows positions. It does not show Earth's materials or heat. Earth's core is mostly metal, not yolk.
The crust is much thinner than the mantle and core. We live on land at the top of the crust. The crust also lies below the oceans.
Earth is very hot inside. Most mantle rock is solid, though some rock below the surface can melt. Volcanoes can bring melted rock up. The core is the hottest part. Its outer part is liquid metal. Its inner part is solid metal.
Within the core, read from outside to centre. The cards show order and state, not size.
Earth has a thin rocky crust, a hot mantle that is mostly solid rock, and a metal core. Some rock below the surface can melt.
Readings and flashcards written for this dataset. Reference works supplied scientific facts and model ideas; their prose is not reproduced.
More to read
Materials inside Earth
Imagine a list of Earth's layers from outside to centre. The crust and mantle would both have rock beside their names. The core would have metal. The states differ too. Most mantle rock is solid. The outer core is liquid metal, while the inner core is solid metal. A hot layer does not have to be liquid.
Studying an inside we cannot reach
No one has dug to Earth's centre. Scientists study earthquake waves to learn about places they cannot reach. These waves carry shaking through Earth. Instruments record their arrival and movement. The waves change as they meet different materials. Those changes help scientists locate layers and work out which regions are solid or liquid.
Draw a layer model
Use crayons and paper. Draw a circle with a thin ring near its edge for the crust. Draw a smaller circle at the centre for the core. The wide space between them stands for the mantle. Label all three parts. Your picture shows their positions. Its colours are choices for the model, and its sizes do not give Earth's exact layer thicknesses.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
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.