Middle School Inquiry Lab on Earth's Layers
In this lab students will construct a model showing the compositional layers of Earth and identify where the mechanical layers begin and end.
Each inquiry lab will contain an essential question that will drive the lesson and make students think. For this lesson, the essential question is:
- How can you build a model to illustrate the compositional and mechanical layers of Earth?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND MATERIALS LIST:
Students will begin the lab by reading the essential question and background information. This can be done individually, as lab groups, or as a whole class. If you consider lab groups, you also might include some type of whole class formative checks before digging into the lab.
Materials List:
- gray clay (1″ diameter ball, about the size of a grape)
- red clay (1″ diameter ball)
- black clay (1 1/4 diameter ball)
- yellow clay (1 1/2 diameter ball)
- green clay (1/2 ball for continental crust)
- blue clay (1″ ball for oceanic crust)
- dental Floss (about 8″)
PROCEDURE:
This inquiry lab will give students an opportunity to hold the world in their hands. Understanding that models help us to represent concepts of great size, like the Earth’s layers, students will construct a micro model of the Earth itself.
Students will be working with several colors of modeling clay which we all know will get students engaged. Students will construct a model of the Earth (layer by layer) and will dissect their model in half to see exactly how thick/thin the layers really are. Students will then draw their model and label which layers are mechanical and compositional.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:
At this point in the lab, students will be checked for understanding by answering questions about their findings. Here is one that comes with the lab:
- What is the difference between the compositional and mechanical layers of Earth?
CONCLUSION
Students will go back to the essential question and write a CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) to conclude the lab. Once completed, students will reflect back on their learning by answering the following questions:
- Which compositional layer is divided between three mechanical layers?
- Why is the asthenosphere a solid even though the temperature is extremely high?
- Why does Earth have many layers instead of just one?
MODIFIED AND INDEPENDENT INQUIRY VERSIONS
All of the Kesler Science inquiry labs come with three different modification levels. Each lab is differentiated using the icons below.
STANDARDS ALIGNMENT
TEKS: 6.10A – Build a model to illustrate the compositional and mechanical layers of Earth, including the inner core, outer core, mantle, crust, asthenosphere, and lithosphere.
