Layers underneath your feet by Karin Gravina

by Dan, Rosie, Alex, and Georgia

Table of Contents ~ Introduction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -page 1 ~ Inner core - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - page 4 ~ Outer core - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - page 6 ~ Mantle - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - page 8 ~ Crust - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -page 10 ~ Conclusion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - page 12 ~ Glossary - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -page 14 ~ Bibliography- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -page 15

Boom! Jamie looked up from his reading. What was that noise?!? He closed his The Layers Underneath Your Feet book and stood up to look around when he heard from above, “That’s a great book you got there.” Jamie looked up. “Whoʼs there?” he asked with a hint of fright. There was a thump behind him and he winced. He spun around to see a red circle with a green E in the middle. As he scanned his eyes up and down the red body suit, he soon noticed the neck above the E and attached to it was a smiling face.

“Who are you!?!” He broke the silence. “Right, of course, I am Earthwoman,” the woman said excitedly. Jamie screeched, “Wait, are you like a super hero?” “I guess you could call me a super hero... of science!” she replied. Jamie was in awe, he’d just met a super hero, which was something he had always wanted to do, and she was a super hero of SCIENCE! Jamie dreamed about science! “Wait, if you’re a super hero, why are you here?” he asked. “Just stopping by, but I could give you tour of the inside of the earth!” Jamie almost fainted. “I guess that’s a yes?” Earthwoman asked. “Uh, yeah!!!” he said,“ But, how did you get here?” “Oh, I just shot through the earth's layers from the inner core, that‘s all.”she replied. Jamie was astounded. But then he remembered, she was a super hero after all. “But first, you don't want to get all burnt up now do you?” Said Earthwoman. And with that, she blew from her hand something that had to be magic because what happened next sure was magical. Jamie looked down to where he had felt the tingle. There he found an E like the one on Earthwoman's suit and with it came his own blue and yellow suit. Later Earthwoman explained that with the suit came heat proof powers. 2

Earthwoman started to jog and he followed. When they got to their destination, which turned out to be a big hole that Earthwoman had made when flying from the inside of the earth, Earthwoman gestured for Jamie to hop in. He got excited and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;After youâ&#x20AC;? She nodded and jumped in. Before Jamie could convince himself not to, he took a flying leap in after her. They landed with thud on the inner core of the earth.

Jamie looked down and was standing on a solid ball about as big as the moon. It was glowing white. “Here, put on these glasses. It will protect your eyes from the white light,” said Earthwoman. “What’s making it glow?” asked Jamie. “Well, the inner core is as hot as the surface of the sun and that makes it so unbelievably bright because the heat of the iron and nickel is so hot it looks white,” said Earthwoman. “The core is a solid ball of nickel and iron. It’s 1,500 miles in diameter. Did you know that the core is about 10,800 degrees fahrenheit? Without the core, the Earth would be a big ball of ice,” said Earthwoman. “Wait, are you saying that if the core wasn’t here, the whole planet would have no living humans on it?” said Jamie.

“Yes, that’s true! Something else surprising is the inner core moves at a lot slower rate than the mantle does. It’s true… it takes a day for the earth to spin a whole 360 degrees while it takes the inner core 750 to 1,440 years to rotate a whole 360 degrees!” said Earthwoman. “Why is the inner core so important?” asked Jamie. “The inner core helps humans survive on the Earth. It makes a magnetic field. This magnetic field helps stop space radiation from killing people here on earth. It blocks space radiation from touching the Earth. It also helps compasses work,” said Earthwoman. “Thanks, Earthwoman! Now I know a lot of facts about the Earth’s inner core. I know what it is, how it moves, and how it helps,” said Jamie. “No problem! It’s just what I like to do!” said Earthwoman. “What is the next layer?”asked Jamie. “The outer core is surrounding us,” said Earthwoman. “Ok then, let's go!” Jamie replied.

“This is the outer core,” said Earthwoman. “What is it made out of?” Jamie asked. “Well it’s an alloy or a mixture of metallic elements. The alloy of the outer core is made up of iron and nickel,” she replied. “Man it sure is weird to be standing on metal” said Jamie. “You mean standing in liquid metal,” she corrected. “Right, it’s even weirder to be standing in liquid burning hot metal and feeling like it’s only 75° F!” he exclaimed.

“Oh yeah, you get used to it but really this liquid metal is 9,000-11,000° fahrenheit!” she said happily. “Hey, um, I started to read something about the magnetic field and I didn't really get it,” he mumbled. “Say no more! The magnetic field happens to be created by the outer core! The metal in this layer is magnetic and when energy goes through the liquid, it’s what causes the outer core to circulate around the inner core.” she replied. “Wow, thanks for teaching me all these facts about the outer core, Earthwoman.” “Of course, I enjoyed it as much as you. Now let’s move to the mantle! The mantle is another important layer within the earth’s structure.” said Earthwoman.

“So earth woman, this is the mantle right” Jamie said. “Thats right Jamie. This is the biggest layer of them all, it is 1,800 miles thick, and makes up about 80% of the earth!” Earthwoman replied. “Wow thats amazing...and its made of metal too, right?” Jamie asked. “Not quite, the mantle is made of the elements silicon, magnesium, and oxygen, like the oxygen we breathe.” Earthwoman said.

“OK so...wait is it just me or are we moving around in this magma mixture?” Jamie anxiously said. “We sure are. In the mantle there are currents that move the magma around in circles. The bottom of the mantle is heated by the core but the top is a little cooler. so the heated magma rises until it hits the cool where it sinks again, where it will soon be heated and rise. this cycle goes on and on and that’s why were circling slowly.” replied Earthwoman 8

“Is that why the curst moves on top of the mantle? I think I read that once in my earth layers book...” Jamie said hesitantly. “Good job Jamie! You have good choices in books! That is true, the crust floats on top of the mantle so when the mantle moves, the crust can crash together and pull apart to make landforms.” said Earthwoman, obviously impressed.

“Oh oh oh! I know this! That makes mountains when they crash together, and trenches when they pull apart! Jamie exclaimed. “And...” Earthwoman said. “Oh! And when the rub against each other they make earthquakes!” “You got it!” Earthwoman exclaimed “ Now let’s travel up to the crust, the top layer of the earth, here we go!” 9

“The earth’s crust is an amazing part of our human life,’’ said Earthwoman. “It is?” Jamie asked. “We walk, sleep, eat and do many other things in our daily life. None of these thing can be done without the crust,” replied Earthwoman. “So life would be impossible without the crust?’’ asked Jamie.

“Oceanic crust is made of basalt, a volcanic rock,” replied Earthwoman. “Also, iron is the most common material in the crust.” “The crust floats on the mantle and is broken up into plates. There are 15 to 20 tectonic plates, which are pieces of the crust that move around the world at a slow pace,” said Earthwoman. “Really?’’ said Jamie with a bit of shock in his voice. “The crust is thick in some spots, but not in others. The thickest part of the crust is no more than 50 miles deep,” said Earthwoman.

“There are two types of

crusts: oceanic and continental.” ‘‘WOW!’’ said Jamie, “That is soooooooo cool.” “Oceanic crust is 5-10 km, or 3-6 miles, deep and continental crust is 30-50 kilometers, or 20-30 miles, thick,” said Earthwoman. “More than two-thirds of the earth is under water.” “Getting this all down?’’ said Earthwoman with a grin. “The crust occupies less than 1% of the Earth’s volume and the crust’s total area is nearly 200 million square miles. 71% of Earth is under water and is called oceanic crust.” “And that is all for today, Jamie!”

“The crust is the outer layer of

the earth,’’ said Earthwoman. “It is made out of many rocks like igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and also contains oxygen, aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, silicon, potassium, and magnesium.” 11

As Jamie walked home, he thought about how he would tell his mom about his adventure. Of course, she’d never believe such a outrageous story. As he walked through the door, he saw his mom in the kitchen and ran over to her. “MOMMY! MOMMY! GUESS WHERE I WAS TODAY!?!?” “Where have you been?” she sighed. He was always coming home telling tales of crazy adventures he’d been on. Crazy things like that time he said he’d met the man on the moon. “I WAS IN THE CENTER OF THE EARTH! WITH MY NEW FRIEND EARTHWOMAN! SHE’S AWESOME AND SMART AND SHE TOLD ME ABOUT THE EARTH!!!” “Jamie, please speak in a quieter voice, my ears are hurting!” “Sorry Mommy. Anyway, she had a red body suit on with a green E on it and she gave me one too, only it’s blue and yellow polka dot. Wanna see it?!?” “No Jamie I certainly do not! It’s way past your bed time and I’ve been working all day!” “But mo-” “Go to bed!” “But I have proof I really was there!” “Not another word Jamie!” As he opened the door into his room, he let out a sigh. Grownups were no fun! But then he remembered that under his sweatshirt, which he had put on before going into the house, was his brand new body suit from Earthwoman. He would treasure it forever!

Glossary Diameter: a line passing from side to side through the center of a body or figure. Fahrenheit: of or denoting a scale of temperature on which water freezes at 32 and boils at 212 under standard condition. Magnetic field: a region around a magnetic materiel or a moving electric charge within which the force of magnetic acts. Radiation: the emission of energy as electro magnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles , esp. high - energy particles that cause ionization. Magma: hot fluid or semifluid material below or within the earths crust from which lava and other igneous rock is from formed by cooling. Elements: a part or aspect of something abstract, esp. one that is essential or characteristic : the death had all the elements of a great tabloid story | there are four elements to the proposal. â&#x20AC;˘ a small but significant presence of a feeling or abstract quality : it was the element of danger he loved in flying.

Silicon: the chemical element of atomic number 14, a nonmetal with semiconducting properties, used in making electronic circuits. Pure silicon exists in a shiny dark gray crystalline form and as an amorphous powder.

Magnesium: the chemical element of atomic number 14, a nonmetal with semiconducting properties, used in making electronic circuits. Pure silicon exists in a shiny dark gray crystalline form and as an amorphous powder.

Landforms: a natural feature of the earth's surface.

Calcium: the chemical element of atomic number 20, a soft gray metal. Calcium is one of the alkaline earth metals. Its compounds occur naturally in limestone, fluorite, gypsum, and other minerals. Potassium:the chemical element of atomic number 19, a soft, silvery-white reactive metal of the alkali metal group.

Volume: the amount of space that a substance or object occupies, or that is enclosed within a container, esp. when great : the sewer could not cope with the volume of rainwater | a volume of air. 14

Works Cited Bauman, Amy. Earths Sceince. Pleasantville: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2008. Print. Davis, Barbara J. Earths Core and Crust. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2007. Print. Nemeth, Jason D. Earths Layers. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2012. Print. Robson, Pam. Earth Wise Our Planet. Mankato: Stargazer Books, 2005. Print. Shepherd, Donna Walsh. Earth. Canada: Franklin Watts, 2002. Print. Vogt, Gregory L. Earth's Core and Mantle. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2007. Print. - - -. The Lithosphere, Earths Crust. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2007. Print. West, Krista. The Restless Earth:Layers of the Earth. New York: Chelsea House, 2009. Print. 15