Earth Structure Reading/Writing Activity
Instructions: Do NOT write on this page. Please write in your “Earth Flipper Book.” You will be using this
flipper book as a resource during the test, so make sure you understand what you write. 
Materials Needed: 3 sheets plain copy paper, writing instrument, colored pencils, protractor, stapler, pink
Science Explorer textbook
Step 1. Create your Earth Flipper Book from 3 sheets of plain printer paper
A. Offset the 3 sheets of paper by 1 cm on the short side.
B. Fold over the paper along the short side to create 6 “pages” in the book. Crease the fold.
C. Staple along the crease, near the edge, in two places.
D. Use a protractor to draw a semi-circle on the right side of the book’s cover, over the tabs. (This will
become your cross-section of the earth.)
E. Label the tabs from the bottom going up… ATMOSPHERE, OCEAN, CRUST, MANTLE, CORE
Step 2. Get a pink Science Explorer Textbook. Turn to section F (about ¼ of the way through the book) and
skim-read pages 6 through 13. Just get to know how the information is organized and basically what
the section contains. Make sure to look at captions to pictures and diagrams.
Step 3. Open the flipper book to the first tab labeled “CORE.” On the inside of the book, you will take notes
about the core of the earth and answer the following questions. (Draw pictures, or write in a way that
will help you on the test. Don’t write one-word or one-phrase answers – they don’t help )
A. What evidence helped us infer the phases of matter of the core?
B. What technology helped us gain this evidence?
C. Make an inference, if the inner core is so hot why isn’t it a gas?
D. What are the most abundant metals in the core? Are these very dense metals, or not so dense?
Step 4. Turn to the tab labeled “MANTLE.” Take notes and make sure that they contain answers to these
questions…
A. What evidence helped us infer the density and consistency of the mantle?
B. What are the names of the 3 layers of the mantle?
C. Make an inference from your knowledge of the word mantle. Why do you think it was given that
name? What else (in your home) is called “Mantle?”
D. Where is the mantle the hottest?
E. Where is the mantle the most dense?
Step 5. Turn to the tab labeled “CRUST.” Take notes and make sure that they contain answers to these
questions…
A. Does crust cover the whole earth, or just under the continents?
B. What type of rock mostly makes up oceanic crust?
C. What type of rock mostly makes up continental crust?
D. How is crust formed?
E. Is crust more or less dense than the mantle? Is crust more or less dense than the oceans?
F. Draw a cross section of crust (like on page 11)
Step 6. Turn to the tab labeled “OCEAN.” Take notes and make sure that they contain answers to these
questions…
A. From your density measurements in class a few days ago, what is the density of water?
B. Where would the most dense part of the ocean be located?
C. Where would the ocean have the greatest pressure?
D. Make an inference, is the temperature of the ocean warmer or colder than the crust under it?
E. Make an inference, is the density of the ocean greater or less than the crust under it?
Step 7. Turn to the tab labeled “ATMOSPHERE.” Make inferences (there is nothing about atmosphere in the
textbook) and make sure that they contain answers to these questions…
A. What phase of matter is the earth’s atmosphere?
B. Where is the most dense part of the atmosphere?
C. Where is the least dense part of the atmosphere?
D. What happens to air pressure as you climb a mountain?
E. Is air more dense or less dense than ocean? Give one piece of evidence to support your inference.
Step 8. Close your flipper book and complete the cover. Use the notes you just took to draw and label the
layers of the half-earth. Make an arrow that goes from each tab name to the label it talks about. Label
the phase of matter of each layer and indicate what happens to density, temperature, and pressure and
you move closer to the center of the earth. (Not that you could move through the inner earth, but you
get the idea…) Color your inner-earth with the darkest colors showing where the greatest density and
temperature are.
Step 9. Glue the back side of your flipper book into your science notebook so it can be saved forever 