The interior of the Earth is fascinating. There are three main layers (and each layer is separated into more layers, as well): the core, the mantle, and the crust.
National Geographic Kids has a great diagram Structure of the Earth! to use as a reference.
DK Find Out! has an interactive Structure of the Earth webpage that your kids will love as well.
In this activity, kids make a model of the layers of the Earth. Creating this model really makes the learning more real, as we (unfortunately!) can not see the Earth’s interior layers with our own eyes.
Materials:
- Play dough or modeling clay
Procedure:
- Make a ball out of orange clay to represent the core.
- Layer a red layer of clay next for the mantle.
- Create a yellow (or brown) layer next for the crust.
- The water will go on top as blue. Create the continents in green (technically part of the crust!)
- Cut an apple slice out of your Earth so that you can see its interior layers. Your model is complete!
