ASL Layers of the Earth for Kids

What do you know about the inside of our planet? In our Layers of the Earth for Kids video, you and your students will discover some facts about the four main layers that make up our beautiful earth! The first thing you'll learn is that the earth is not simply a giant ball of dirt, rocks, and minerals. On the contrary, our planet is much more than meets the eye.Show more

The crust is the outer layer of the earth and is actually between 5 and 25 miles thick depending on where you are. Under the oceans, it is only about 3 to 5 miles thick, and we refer to these areas as oceanic crust. The crust beneath the land reaches up to 25 miles thick. We refer to these parts as continental crust. The temperatures of the earth's crust can range anywhere between air temperature and 1600°F, which is hot enough to melt rocks!

This thin layer consists of broken pieces called plates, which float on top of the soft mantle layer below. (The movement of these plates is what often causes earthquakes.) The mantle layer is the largest at about 1800 miles thick. It comprises extremely hot, dense rock that flows like asphalt. The temperature at the top is about 1600°F, but it's about 4000°F at the bottom! This layer is basically made up of melted rock that allow the plates of the earth's crust to float on top. The melted rock that escapes to the earth's surface lead to the creation of volcanoes.

Then comes the outer core of the earth. The outer core consists mostly of melted nickel and iron. This layer lies around 1800 miles below the earth's surface and is around 1400 miles thick. The temperature ranges from 4000°F to 9000°F! The inner core is about 800 miles thick with 9000°F temperatures. There is so much pressure in the core that the metals squeeze very tightly, forcing them to vibrate as solids do. This pressure comes from the weight of the other layers that press down on it.

We hope you and your student(s) enjoyed learning about the crust, mantle, and inner and outer cores of our planet! If you want to learn even more, head over to our website and download one of our many free lesson plans about Earth, full of activities, worksheets, and more!