Soil

What is soil? Why is it so important? What's it made of, and are there different soils around the United States? Click on the picture to learn more about different soils.

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?

The reason for the seasons

Earth is unlike any other planet. We have water, oxygen, plants, animals and an atomosphere. We also have 4 different seasons that cause weather changes. Have you ever stopped and wondered why it's cold during the winter time, but warm and sunny during summer?




What about the middle seasons, like Spring and Autumn? During the Spring time, the flowers begin to bloom the animals migrate back to their warmer habitat. It begins to warm up during Spring. After summer, we begin to see the leaves change colors and the temperature begins to cool down as we enter into Autumn. Crops are ready to be harvested before the winter.


















Right now, we're experiencing Winter. There are more clouds in the sky, and the temperature has dropped since summer time. Houston's winters are usually rainy and cold, but every once in awhile, we get snow or ice!

The reason we have seasons is because the earth is tilted on it's axis. During our summer, the top half (Northern Hemisphere) of the earth is pointed towards the sun, so we are exposed to the sun's warmth more. The bottom half (Southern Hemisphere) of the earth is pointed away from the sun, so they are experiencing winter.

When we orbit the sun, we will sometimes be pointed towards the sun, and we will sometimes be pointed away from the sun.




1. Why do we have seasons on the Earth?

2. How are seasons in the Northern Hemisphere alike and different from those in the Southern Hemisphere?

3. What would happen with the Seasons if the Earth never orbited around the Sun?

Where do shadows come from?

Click here to watch an animation of shadows!


Have you ever wondered why your shadow looks really tall in the morning, but when you go outside for lunch, your shadow looks short? When it's getting close to dinner time, your shadow looks long and tall again!

Let's think about this for a minute...

We know that sun isn't really moving. We know that the Earth is rotating (spinning) on it's axis every day, and this causes one side of the earth to always be on dark side, and the other side to always be on the light side. This is why we have day and night!

While earth is spinning, the sun's position in the sky changes. The sun's light points in different directions as it moves across the sky. This causes shadows to change and look different.






Click on the sun to play a game about shadows!

1. Does the sun move?
   
2. What is the relationship between the length and direction of a shadow and the sun?
   
3. Why are the shadows at night if there is no sunlight?

The Sun, Earth and Moon

Everything goes around the sun. Click here to watch an animated picture of our solar system.

These three objects in the sky are both similar and different in many ways! Let's put our heads together and figure out what we already know about the Sun, Earth and Moon!

___________________________
Click here: The Sun

• What is the sun made out of?
• How big is the sun?
• Is the sun moving?
• What kinds of energy does the Sun provide for Earth?

____________________________________
Click here: The Earth

What can you find on Earth (things that we use to live, landforms...etc.)?

• What does the Earth revolve around?
  
• Does Earth have an atmosphere?
  
• Is Earth bigger or smaller than the sun?
  
• Is Earth bigger or smaller than the moon?

_________________________

Click here: The Moon

• What is the moon made out of?
• What kinds of landforms are found on the moon (hills, mountains..etc)?
  What can you not find on the moon that people need for survival (things that we use to live)?
• Does the moon have an atmosphere?
• What does the moon orbit?
  
  

___________________________

Now use your information you found and think about how the The Sun (red circle), Earth (green circle) and Moon (blue circle) are similar and different. Make this Venn diagram in your journal for Homework.