Scale Model of Earth's Layers and Atmosphere Lab

Name:___________________Date:_______________Per:_____ Scale Model of Earth’s Layers and Atmosphere Lab Scientists who study the Earth’s layers are called geologists (geo- means Earth and -ology means the study of). Because geologists cannot see inside the Earth, they use geological clues to help them. These clues are gathered from Earth processes such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. From analyzing these processes, geologists create models about what the inside of the Earth looks like. Scientists describe 4 (sometimes three) layers of the Earth, or geosphere. The thin, outermost layer on which we live is called the crust. Below the crust is the next layer called the mantle. The mantle contains hot liquid rocks called magma, which sometimes makes its way to the surface as lava during volcanic eruptions. The next layer is the outer core which is made of two hot liquids, iron and nickel. The innnermost layer is called the inner core. It is made of two solid metals, iron and nickel. LABEL THE LAYERS. A = ____________________________inner core B = ____________________________outer core C = ____________________________mantle D = ____________________________crust Scientists who study the atmosphere are called meteorologists. That may seem weird since they are not really studying meteors, or space rocks that enter Earth’s atmosphere. In ancient Greece, the word meteor referred to anything that was in the sky or came from the sky. When meteorologists study the atmosphere, they noticed that at different distances from the Earth the gases had different qualities, especially differences in temperature. Scientists describe 4 (sometimes 5 or 6) layers of the atmosphere.

List the layers of the atmosphere. layer not included in lab

= exosphere

4th layer from the Earth

= _____________________

middle layer

= _____________________

2nd layer from the Earth

= _____________________

layer closest to the Earth

= _____________________

In this lab you will create a scale model of both the layers of the Earth and the layers of the atmosphere. To do this, first, you need to convert the actual distances or thicknesses to a smaller scale (1:10,000,000). Complete the table to convert actual thickness to scale thickness. LAYER

ACTUAL THICKNESS (in kilometers)

SCALE THICKNESS (in centimeters) --------------------Move the decimal point 2 places to the left

inner core

1220 km

12.2 cm

outer core

2870 km

28.7 cm

mantle

2260 km

22.6 cm

crust

20 km

0.2 cm

troposphere

10 km

0.1 cm

stratosphere

50 km

0.5 cm

mesosphere

80 km

0.8 cm

thermosphere

140 km

1.4 cm

(to center)

Layers of the Earth

Layers of the Atmosphere

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING SCALE MODEL OF THE EARTH’S LAYERS

1. Tape 3 pieces of paper (​ 8.5” x 11”)​ together longways​ like this. 2. Use the meter stick to measure the scale thickness of each layer and make a small line on the edge of the paper to indicate that length. 3. Use the protractor to draw a 10 cm perpendicular line for each layer. 4. Neatly paste the correct layer label (inner core, outer core, mantle, crust, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere) next to each line. YOU NOW HAVE MADE A SCALE MODEL OF THE EARTH’S LAYERS FROM THE CENTER OF THE EARTH TO OUTER SPACE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INNER CORE OUTER CORE MANTLE CRUST TROPOSPHERE STRATOSPHERE MESOSPHERE THERMOSPHERE

GEOSPHERE ATMOSPHERE