Layers of the Earth Unit
Our Layers of the Earth Unit includes an article, diagrams, research sheets, a hands-on demonstration, and a suggestive educational video. These free resources are all you need to teach the layers of the earth to your student or class. The resources provided were created for middle school students but could be modified to fit a wider range of student. Get ready to learn about the interior of the Earth!
Since you are studying Earth, you might enjoy our other units on Earth such as Distribution of Earth’s Water or Rotation and Revolution. One of our newest posts features Earth’s Spheres for Kids.
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Layers of the Earth Slideshow
This 35 slide presentation features the layers of the Earth. Use this to introduce the layers of the Earth to your students. The following terms will be defined: crust, upper mantle, lower mantle, outer core, inner core, continental crust, oceanic crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere, seismic waves, p-waves, s-waves, and more!
*For teachers, you can purchase the editable PowerPoint and all of the printables in the Layers of the Earth Pack. Thanks!
Layers of the Earth Guided Notes
As a teacher, I love using guided notes. They help students learn how to take notes, use notes to study, and engaging them during a lecture about new topics. When paired with a visually appealing slideshow/PowerPoint, guided notes become an effective teaching tool. These notes follow the slideshow seamlessly and allow for a quick 12 question review at the end.
National Geographic Article
I found an article online that I had converted into a PDF document. You can find the article here. It was written by National Geographic. Printfriendly.com makes it so easy to create a hard copy of anything online. I am a fan of holding a piece of paper rather than looking at a screen.
check out these other free science units!
Layers of the Earth Worksheet Set
There are four activity sheets within the FREE Layers of the Earth Worksheets. Along with other resources, we used these worksheets to teach the layers of the Earth. Two of the four sheets were specially designed to use together. You can use them to create a mini-project where students label a diagram and then describe the parts of the interior of the Earth. What makes this set of worksheets different than from others is that ours focuses on the five layers of the Earth including the crust, upper mantle, lower mantle, outer core, and inner core.
To download, check out our Layers of the Earth Worksheets here!
Apple Demonstration
Using apples to encourage kids to talk about the layers of the Earth is effective and tasty! As you can see from the image, we compare the skin to the crust. It is the thinnest layer of the Earth just as the skin is. We compare the stem to the axis. The hard seeds represent the inner core and the outer casing of the seeds to the outer core. We point out the differences and the similarities are noted. The flesh is compared to the mantle. Just like the flesh is the largest part of the apple, so is the mantle the thickest layer.
Layers of the Earth YouTube Video
I am all about adding in short videos to help solidify a topic to my students. A high percentage of students are visual learners. So, videos can go a long way in teaching concepts that are abstract.
check out these other free science units!
