Earth's Layers

• Earth is made of four layers.

  • Crust

  • Mantle

  • Outer Core

  • Inner Core

• As you dig deeper, Earth gets hotter.

• Scientists made inferences about the inner layers.

• We cannot really dig through the Earth because the inner layers are so hot!

The Crust

• We live on Earth's crust.

• It is the outside layer of the Earth.

• The crust is broken into 12 ​pieces, called plates.

• The plates hold the continents and oceans.

• The continents are made of cooled rocks. ​

The Mantle

• The mantle is the second layer.

• The mantle is made of hot liquid rock called magma.

• We can observe magma when a volcano erupts.

• When magma comes to the crust, it cools to form new rocks. ​

The Core

• The core is made of hot metal.

• The core has two layers - Outer Core and Inner Core.​

• The Outer Core is liquid, but the Inner Core is solid. ​

• The Outer Core ​creates Earth's magnetic field.

• ​​The Inner Core is as hot as the Sun!

• We cannot observe the core because it is so hot. We have to make inferences.