Name: _________________________ Science Making an initial Claim: What’s inside Earth? If someone told you to figure out what is inside Earth, what would you do? How could you figure out what is inside our planet? How do scientists figure it out? Evidence is very important for scientists. They can use evidence to develop conceptual models (what they think something they cannot see might look like). Evidence comes from observation and data. As our technologies increase, scientists are able to present models of how deep inside the planet Earth look like. Instructions: Read the text and annotate, How Do We Know About Earth’s Interior? and study the diagrams below. Next, make an initial claim. Complete the outline, citing evidence from the diagrams and the text. What is inside the Earth? We cannot see into the Earth, but there is evidence of Earth’s interior that we can analyze. Write a scientific explanation for what is inside Earth, Your explanation should include the following: ● ● ● a claim about what is inside Earth evidence to support that claim reasoning for the use of that evidence Text : How Do We Know About Earth’s Interior? Observing the interior Diagram 1 : Layers of the Earth The deepest boreholes only go several kilometers into the Earth. A mine is the deepest place a person can go into the Earth and while It's pretty incredible down there, even being deep in a gold mine does not offer much information about what the Earth is like hundreds or thousands of kilometers below the surface. From outside to inside, Earth is divided into crust, mantle, and core. Each has a different chemical makeup. Earth can also be divided into layers with different properties. The two most important are lithosphere and asthenosphere. Crust, mantle, and core differ from each other in chemical composition. It's understandable that scientists know the most about the crust, and less about deeper layers. Earth’s crust is a thin, brittle outer shell. The crust is made of rock. This layer is thinner under the oceans and much thicker in mountain ranges. There are two kinds of crust. Oceanic crust is made of basalt lavas that flow onto the seafloor. It is relatively thin, between 5 to 12 kilometers thick (3 - 8 miles). The rocks of the oceanic crust are denser (3.0 g/cm3) than the rocks that make up the continents. Thick layers of mud cover much of the ocean floor. Continental crust is much thicker than oceanic crust. It is 35 kilometers (22 miles) thick on average, but it varies a lot. Continental crust is made up of many different rocks. All three major rock types — igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary — are found in the crust. On average, continental crust is much less dense (2.7 g/cm3) than oceanic crust. Since it is less dense, it rises higher above the mantle than oceanic crust. Beneath the crust is the mantle. The mantle is made of hot, solid rock. Through the process of conduction, heat flows from warmer objects to cooler objects . The lower mantle is heated directly by conduction from the core. Diagram 1 Convection Currents The dense, iron core forms the center of the Earth. Scientists know that the core is metal from studying metallic meteorites and the Earth’s density. Seismic waves show that the outer core is liquid, while the inner core is solid. Movement within Earth's outer liquid iron core creates Earth’s magnetic field. These convection currents form in the outer core because the base of the outer core is heated by the even hotter inner core. Lithosphere and asthenosphere are layers based on physical properties. The outermost layer is the lithosphere. The lithosphere is the crust and the uppermost mantle. In terms of physical properties, this layer is rigid, solid, and brittle. It is easily cracked or broken. Below the lithosphere is the asthenosphere. The asthenosphere is also in the upper mantle. This layer is solid, but it can flow and bend. A solid that can flow is like silly putty. Seismic waves Since we can't go to the center of Earth, we have to rely on indirect observations of the materials of the interior. Geologists study earthquake waves to “see” Earth's interior. Waves of energy radiate out from an earthquake’s focus. These observations mostly come from seismic waves. When an earthquake occurs, energy is radiated from the location of the earthquake in waves that travel through the Earth and arrive at seismometers at some distance from the source. The speed of these waves through the Earth is controlled by the properties of the material that the waves pass through. By measuring the time it takes for various waves to get from an earthquake to a given seismometer, scientists can back out what the material properties must have been like along the path taken by the wave. Diagram 2 http://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Earth-Science What is your question? What is inside the Earth? We cannot see into the Earth, but there is evidence of Earth’s interior that we can analyze. Support for your explanation Claim based on the evidence (What is the answer to your question based on your evidence?) The inside of the Earth is made up of . Evidence (Observations/data that answers your question) Scientific Reasoning (Why you think this happened based on background research) 2. Peer Review Have a peer read your work and provide comments on what you plan to write. 3. Drafting Write your explanation in paragraph form. Scientific Explanation = Claim + Evidence + Science Reasoning My claim is (fill in with above claim) because (evidence and science reasoning) Finally, write a paragraph explaining your position. Refer to the rubric to see how you will be graded. Rubric for Making Claims: What’s inside Earth? Criteria Exceeds expectations (3) Meets expectations (2) Approaching expectations (1) Did not meet expectations (0) Claim (Outline) Claim made and described in a way that demonstrates sound scientific reasoning Claim made and evidence is given, although reasoning is unclear Claim made No claim made Evidence (Outline) More than two pieces of evidence (including textual and data table) Two pieces of evidence One piece of evidence No evidence Scientific Reasoning (Outline) Explanation given for all evidence Explanation given for some evidence Explanation is not relevant to the evidence No explanation attempted Scientific Explanation (paragraph) Written in complete sentences with no grammatical/spelling errors Written in complete sentences with few grammatical/spelling errors Written in complete sentences with some grammatical/spelling errors Not written in complete sentences.
