Layers of the Earth

Have you ever cut open an onion? What does it look like inside?

The outside is layer is the largest, and the center is smaller, but still looks like a sphere. The Earth is kind of like an onion. If you were to split the world in half, you would see that the Earth has more than one layer. The top layer is called the crust. This is where we live. You can find oceans, landforms, trees, people, animals and soil on the crust. The crust is always changing because of weather and what happens underneath it.

The mantle is the red, hot liquid layer underneath Earth's surface. This is where we find magma. When there's a hole in earth's crust, sometimes a lot of pressure can form, and magma comes out of the ground, causing a volcano to form and erupt. When you see magma on Earth's surface, it's called lava. Lava cools and hardens over time.

The core is the center of the Earth. The core is very hot, and it would be impossible to dig a hole and visit the core because of it's extreme temperature.

Let's read more about Earth's different layers here.

Let's play a game about Earth's different layers here.


1.How would you compare and contrast the layers of the earth?

2. What else has layers like the Earth or an onion?

3. What kinds of things can be found below Earth's surface that we can't see?