Susie Homeschooler

INSIDE THE EARTH

My son is really into science and I thought I'd start off teaching about the planets first this year.    Over the next month we'll learn about the entire solar system in detail.   I decided to focus in the beginning about the inside of the Earth.  I found a great lesson using Evan-Moor Geology Grades 1-3

I first made one batch of homemade playdough.  I found the recipe here at Homemade Playdough.  It's simple, quick, and cheap to make.  LOVE!

I then formed dough balls and added regular food coloring to each of them.  I used red, yellow, orange, green, and blue coloring.   Each ball should be bigger then the last starting with red, yellow, orange, and then green.   You'll need a little of blue since that will be for water at the end.

Flatten the yellow piece wide enough to cover the red ball and then seal.

Next, flatten the orange dough wide enough to fit the yellow ball.

Do the same thing again this time covering the orange ball.

Now that your ball is covered simply add bits of blue for water and blend it in.   Now you have the planet Earth!

The learning begins.   Cut the ball in half and show the inside of the Earth.

The red layer is the inner core.

The yellow section is the outer core.

The orange section is the mantle.

The blue and green section is the crust.

You will have lots of fun talking about each layer.   It's fascinating to learn about each layer  of the earth and what it consists of.   Do you know what layers scientists have been able to drill into?  What section is so hot that the rocks and minerals are liquid?

We finished our lesson doing a simple coloring sheet, word box worksheet, and read a book all about the layers of the Earth.   Everything was included in the Evan-Moor Geology book including more exciting lessons to do over the year.   

Hope you have fun doing this lesson.  My son has been talking about it all week!