Topic: Layers forming the Earth

Author: Magdalena Jankun

Target group

Student of the 1st grade of secondary school, basic programme.

Core curriculum

2nd grade of a post‑elementary school

V. Lithosphere: the relationship between the interior structure of the Earth and the tectonics of lithospheric plates, internal and external processes shaping the surface of the Earth and their effects, rocks. The student:

1) explains the relationship between the interior structure of the Earth and the movement of the lithospheric plates and its influence on the genesis of endogenous processes.

The general aim of education

You will learn and describe the layers that form the Earth.

Criteria of success

• You will discuss the interior structure of the Earth based on a scheme;

• name and characterize the Earth's interior layers;

• name the methods used to study the Earth’s interior;

• indicate the place and the depth of the deepest borehole in the world on the map.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in a foreign language;

• learning to learn;

• digital competence.

Methods / forms of work

• using ICT tools;

• activity with educational material and multimedia on the epodreczniki platform;

• individual activity, activity in pairs, and collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook for teaching geography;

• interactive whiteboard;

• multimedia projector;

• tablets/computers;

• physical map of world;

• geographical atlases.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher starts the classes from an interactive exercise for the students: put the layers forming the Earth in the correct order. The students may not yet know the answer, but if we treat this exercise as a warm‑up game, they can use the deduction method to find the correct answer.

Realization

1. Using the source materials, the students write in the notebooks features characteristic for the Earth's internal layers.

2. The students pay attention to the element of the Earth's crust: the lithosphere. It is divided into giant rock blocks called lithospheric plates. Using geographical atlases, they search for the map known as „Geological structure of the world - tectonic plates” . They discuss the location and boundaries of the plates.

3. Interactive exercise (interactive map): the students will learn about the vocabulary associated with the internal structure of the Earth.

4. The teacher emphasizes that it is highly unlikely to be able to directly get to know the internal structure of the Earth. We get to know the surface layer when mining for mineral resources, but the deepest mines in the world exceed 4000 m deep. These are gold and diamond mines in southern Africa. Using geographical atlases, the students search for a map known as „ Africa - mineral resources” and locate the mines in southern Africa.

5. The teacher asks the students to search for information about the deepest geological drills carried out in order to get to know the Earth's structure on the Internet (e.g. using mobile phones or on tablets/computers).

6. Interactive exercise: ordering elements. Put the Earth's interior layers in the correct order. The selected student approaches the board and performs the task.

7. Work in pairs. Analysis of the scheme entitled „Changes in pressure and temperature with the increasing depth in the Earth’s interior”. The students discuss in pairs and then write down their explanations. The selected pairs discuss their conclusions on the class forum.

Summary

1. The teacher assesses the students' activity during the lesson, appreciating their engagement and commitment.

2. Homework for keen students. Using the Learning Apps: Millionaires educational game, create questions related to the issues learnt on today's lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Earth’s layers

As a result of geological research, it was found that our planet consists of the following layers (counting from the surface):

• Earth's crust – the most diverse layer that is several kilometres thick under the oceans, and several dozen kilometres thick under the continents; the continental crust is made of a thick layer of granite and other deep‑sea magmatic rocks covered with sedimentary rocks, and it lays on a thin layer of basalt; the oceanic crust is basically basalt rocks covered gradually with sedimentary rocks; the Earth's crust is separated from the lower layers of the Earth with a surface on which the course of seismic waves changes markedly; it is called the surface of discontinuity or Moho discontinuity (from the name of the Croatian geophysician - A. Mohorovičić);

• Earth’s mantle – a layer below the Earth's crust with a thickness of 2.8 - 2.9 thousand km and temperature rising gradually to 4.5 - 5 thousand degrees Celsius; the rocks of the highest part of the mantle are rigid, but deeper they become semi‑liquid; the mantle is usually divided into the upper mantle  that is in contact with the crust and layers located lower which are the lower mantle;

• Earth's core – below the lower boundary of the mantle, i.e. from the depth of 2.9 thousand km to the inside of our planet, there are layers called the core of the Earth, and the radius of the core is approximately 3.5 thousand km, and the temperature reaches 6 thousand degrees Celsius; due to very high pressure, the inner part of the core (called the inner core) is a solid, crystallized body; the remaining part (the so‑called outer core) is probably in a liquid state; subsequent layers are separated by the surfaces of the discontinuity.

The Earth's crust and the rigid (rock), upper part of the mantle form the lithosphere. It has a thickness of several km below the mid‑oceanic ridges to approximately 120 km below the land, and is divided into huge blocks called lithospheric plates.