Today we learnt about the earth layers like the inner core,outer core and the crust of the Earth which is the edge of the Earth so its where we live. I did this in a Google drawing I did New Zealand,Australia and South Africa.
The core
Let’s start at the very centre of the Earth. The word ‘core’ means the central part of something, for example, an apple has a core. The Earth has an inner core and an outer core. Scientists think that the inner core is solid and mainly made of iron. Iron is very hard – that’s why knights used it to make their armour. The outer core is also mostly iron, but this layer is liquid (melted) iron.
The mantle
The next layer is called the mantle. It is made of rock. It is very hot in this part of the Earth, causing the rock to behave a little bit like a liquid and a solid.
The crust
The crust is the part of the Earth that we walk on. Compared to the other layers, it is quite thin and breakable. You can think of the crust of the Earth as being a bit like the crust of a pie – although this crust is 5–70 km deep depending on whether you are under the ocean or on top of a mountain! The Earth’s crust is not one continuous surface like on a tennis or soccer ball. The crust is ‘broken’ into enormous pieces called tectonic plates.
Tectonic plates
Scientists think that the crust of the Earth is made up of six large (major) tectonic plates and a few smaller ones. These plates fit together like puzzle pieces and float on the partially molten mantle. They slowly move and bump against each other at a rate of a few millimetres to up to 20 cm per year. It is this bumping and rubbing that causes earthquakes and volcanoes.