Target Concept: Identifying Earth’s Layers
P.S: 8-3.1 Summarize the three layers of Earth—crust, mantle, and core—on the basis of relative position, density, and composition.
Materials:
These are the materials needed to make 80 Jello cups
160 Plastic spoons (2 spoons for every Jello cup made)
4 Boxes of Red Jello
5 Boxes of Yellow Jello
8 Boxes of Blue Jello
1 Box of Graham Crackers
80 Small 5 ounce disposable cups (Dixie Cups – best if clear)
Paper Towels
Earth’s layers diagram
Definition of each layer
Procedures:
Preparation:
1) Lay out the number of cups needed
2) Make the Red Jello. Fill each cup about 20% (1/5) of the way.
3) Put the cups into the refrigerator until the Red Jello sets.
4) Make the Yellow Jello, let the liquid cool off (you may put just the Yellow Jello in the refrigerator to cool off but make sure it does not turn into a gel yet) so that the
Red Jello does not melt and the layers do not blend together when the Yellow Jello is added to the cups. Add the Yellow Jello to each cup until the cup is about half full with Red and Yellow Jello. (The Red and Yellow Jello together should fill up half the cup.)
5) Put the cups into the refrigerator again until the Yellow Jello sets.
6) Make the Blue Jello and again let it cool off. Add the Blue Jello to the cups until the cups are about 90% of the way full.
7) Put the cups into the refrigerator again until the Blue Jello sets.
8) Crush up the Graham Crackers. Add a thin layer of crushed graham crackers to the top of each cup.
9) The Jello cups are finished a) Red = Inner core (~1300 km or 20%) b) Yellow = Outer core (~2250 km or 34%) c) Blue = Mantle (~2900 km or 45%) d) Graham Cracker = Crust (~40 km or 1%)
10) The yellow and the blue Jello may blend together a little to make green no matter how the Jello is prepared. In this case, the students should pretend the yellow and the green are the same color.
Activity:
11)
Break the class into pairs. Each pair receives a Jello cup, two spoons, two Earth’s layers diagrams, and a definition sheet.

12) Tape a copy of the instructions to the desk for each pair of students. (Direction sheet is below)
13) The students are to use the spoons to take a “sample” of the Jello cup and place it on paper towel.
14) The students then fill out the diagram. a) The labels on the diagram below should be replaced with blanks. b) It is up to the teacher whether or not to leave in the layer thickness in the diagram.
You could require the students to label the thickness.
15) When the students finish it is up to the teacher on whether or not the students can eat the Jello. If the Jello was made in beakers or other containers used to mix chemicals then it is probably not a good idea to allow the students to eat the Jello.

Directions:
1.
Use the spoons to take a sample of your cup.
Make sure to get a sample of everything in the cup.
2.
Take out the diagram sheet
3.
Label the layers on the diagram based on the colors from the JELLO cup. Each layer should have a color assigned to it.
4.
Look at the definition sheet and label each of the layers based on the definition that fits the description of the layer the best.
5.
Write in the thickness of each layer in the correct place.
6.
Answer the rest of the questions on your diagram sheet.

Directions : 1.) Label the layers on the diagram based on the colors from the JELLO cup.
Each layer should have a color assigned to it. 2.) Then look at the definition sheet and label each of the layers based on the definition that fits the description of the layer the best. 3.) Write in the thickness of each layer in the correct place.

Definitions:
1.Crust: The Earth’s outer most surface that is solid and is 8 – 40 kilometers thick.
2.Mantle: The part of the Earth that is below the Crust and above the Core that is about 2900 kilometers thick and has both solid and liquid material.
3.Outer Core: The liquid layer of the
Earth that is below the Mantle and is about 2200 kilometers thick.
4.Inner Core: The innermost layer of the
Earth that is the hottest, solid, and is about 1300 kilometers thick.
5.Core: The innermost layer of the Earth just below the Mantle that is made up of the Outer Core and the Inner Core and is about 3500 kilometers thick.