Explorations in Earth Science: Three-D Earth Structure Model
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/threedearth/threedearth.htm

Larry Braile, Sheryl Braile, Purdue University, Happy Hollow School


In this activity, students use modeling clay or baker's clay to construct a 3-D model of the interior of the Earth to help visualize the main spherical layers or regions (the inner core, outer core, mantle and crust). This project reinforces the concepts included in the Earth's Interior Structure activity by utilizing a 3-dimensional model to enhance visualization and illustration of the relative volumes of Earth's layers. It also provides an opportunity for some practice in problem solving and math skills. Students will use a percent of total mass to construct each layer and an extension activity allows them to calculate the volume of each layer. Given the relative densities, they can also calculate the total mass of each layer.

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This resource originally cataloged at:

DLESE

Resource Type: Activities:Classroom Activity
Grade Level: High School (9-12), Middle (6-8)