Name: _______________________________
Period: ____________ Date: _____________
*Be sure to write your full name, …period and date (look on
OBJ: The student will describe the characteristics
of the layers of the earth.
board) legibly. Failure to do so may result in a 0 on the
assignment.
Procedure A – Drawing the Scale Model
1. Remove the staple and detach the second sheet of paper from this lab. Hold that sheet with the blank
side facing you and turn it so that the longer (11-inch) side is at the top. Fold the sheet in half, and then
open it up again. Make a SMALL dot on the fold near the bottom of the paper.
THIS DOT WILL REPRESENT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH.
2. Geologists have identified four layers in Earth’s interior. The names of the layers are listed in the first
column of the Data Table below, in order from the middle of the Earth towards the surface.
3. The diameter of Earth’s inner core is 2,431 km; it has a radius of 1,216 km – this is the “thickness” of
the inner core. Look up the thicknesses of the outer core and mantle on page 177 of your textbook.
Record the data in the second column of the Data Table. The thickness of the crust varies from less than
5 km in parts of the ocean to more than 65 km in some mountains. You will use a thickness of 65 km for
this model.
4. You will draw a scale model of the layers. The scale of the model is 1 cm = 500 km. This means that
every 1 centimeter on your paper represents 500 kilometers inside the Earth.
Calculate the scale model thickness of each layer: divide Actual Thickness (km) by 500.
Record the Scale Model Thickness (cm) of each layer in the third column of the Data Table.
5. Draw your scale model using a drawing compass to draw the outer edge of each layer from the
center of the Earth. To do this, you need to calculate the Total Model Radius (cm) for each layer. Do this
by adding the scale model thickness of a layer (column 2) to the total model radius of the previous
layer in the fourth column of the Data Table.
Layer of Earth’s
Interior
Actual Thickness (Km)
Inner Core
1,216 km
Scale Model
Thickness (cm)
(=column 2 ÷ 500)
Total Model Radius
(cm) (=scale thickness
+ previous line)
Outer Core
Mantle
Crust
6. Now it is time to draw your scale model. Use the Total Model Radius data from column four. Start
with the inner core. Use the metric ruler to set the radius of the drawing compass: place the compass
point at 0 and open the compass until the pencil point is located at the distance equal to the scale
model thickness (cm) of the inner core.
7. Place the point of the compass on the dot on your blank paper. Draw a semi-circle on the paper to
represent the inner core.
8. Repeat Step 6 for each layer. Use the Total Model Radius for each layer. Place the compass point at
the center dot each time.
9. Give a Title to the drawing and write the Scale (1 cm = 500 km) on the model.
10. NEATLY label the Name and Actual Thickness (in km) of each layer on the drawing.
11. Select four different colors and lightly color each layer.
Procedure B – Tabulating Data
Complete the Properties of Earth’s Layers Data Table. It is on the back side of the Scale Model Drawing.
Use your textbook to find the required information about each layer. Information is located on page 177
of your textbook.
(a) Name of Layer (already entered on chart)
(b) Thickness of Layer – for crust, do NOT list “65 km”; give a range of thicknesses.
(c) State of Matter – is the layer solid or liquid? For the mantle, write “solid, parts weak rock
that can flow”
Answer the following questions:
1. Describe the overall pattern of densities of Earth’s layers, beginning at Earth’s surface.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Look up the term “Mohorovicic discontinuity” online. Use your electronic device for this.
The nickname for this layer is the “MOHO”. What is the MOHO and where is it
located?_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
TRACE the “MOHO” on your scale model diagram and LABEL it.
3. Which layer of Earth’s interior is the thickest? ______________________________________
4. Which layer of Earth is thinnest? _________________________________________________
5. Look up the terms lithosphere and asthenosphere online using your electronic device. Define each in
the space below. Include the names of the layers in which each is located.
Lithosphere:
______________________________________________________________________________
Located in which layer(s)? ________________________________________________________
Asthenosphere:
______________________________________________________________________________
Located in which layer(s)? __________________________________________
Make an inference: Which zone, the lithosphere or the asthenosphere, is made of denser rock?
______________________________________________________________________________
I know this because
______________________________________________________________________________
6. The outer core is different from the inner core in that
______________________________________________________________________________
I know this because
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Make some inferences about the following characteristics.
a. The deeper you go into Earth’s interior, the PRESSURE will: (circle one)
Increase/decrease stay the same. I know this because
______________________________________________________________________________
b. The deeper you go into Earth’s interior, the TEMPERATURE will: (circle one)
increase/decrease stay the same.
______________________________________________________________________________
COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING TABLE USING YOUR TEXTBOOKS PAGE 177
Earth’s Interior
Layer
Thickness
(Km)
Density at
Top (g/cm3)
Density at
Bottom
(g/cm3)
State of
Matter (solid, Temperature
liquid)
Ave:
14 degrees C
57 degrees F
Crust
2.2 g/cm3
2.9 g/cm3
Mantle
3.4 g/cm3
5.6 g/cm3
Outer Core
9.9 g/cm3
12.2 g/cm3
Inner Core
12.8 g/cm3
13.1 g/cm3
Solid