How Earth formed and separated into layers
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.
a hot, mixed young Earth, then a layered Earth. Why did Earth separate into layers, by Ari's reading?
- Dense iron sank and lighter rock rose while Earth was molten
- Light rock sank to the center
- The Moon's pull stacked the layers
- Earth formed in layers from the start
What had to happen before Earth's iron could sink to the center, by Bo's reading?
- Earth had to cool and freeze solid
- Earth had to be hot enough to partly melt
- The iron had to float to the top
- Nothing; the layers were there from the start
Read this first
Table, Earth's layers (USGS), with columns Layer, Thickness, State
Crust, about 5 km (oceans) to 30 km (continents), solid, brittle; mantle, about 2,900 km, hot, semi-solid rock; outer core, about 2,200 km, liquid iron-nickel; inner core, about 1,250 km, solid iron-nickel.
Which material ended up at Earth's center, by Kira's reading (USGS)?
- Iron and nickel
- Light crust rock
- A giant magnet that makes the magnetic field
- Water
Which layer is liquid, by Jun's reading (USGS)?
- The crust
- Each layer
- The inner core
- The outer core
About how thick is the crust under the oceans, by Luz's reading (USGS)?
- About 2,900 km
- About 1,250 km
- About 5 km
- About 500 km
Which order runs from least dense to most dense, by Noah's reading?
- They are equally dense
- Crust, mantle, core
- Core, mantle, crust
- Mantle, crust, core
USGS says the core is nearly twice as dense as the mantle. Why, by Pia's reading?
- It is made of gas
- It is full of water
- It is made of metal, iron and nickel, not stone
- It is made of lighter rock
Lighter material rose as Earth sorted itself. Which layer did it form, by Ren's reading?
Cutaway with arrows of light rock rising to the surface. Cutaway with arrows of light rock rising to the surface. surface light rock - The crust
- The outer core
- No layer; it sank
- The inner core
Which formed first: the solar system's oldest solids or Earth's layers, by Zee's reading?
Timeline ruler: oldest solids about 4.56 billion years; Earth about 4.54 billion years. Timeline ruler: oldest solids about 4.56 billion years; Earth about 4.54 billion years. 4.5 4.51 4.52 4.53 4.54 4.55 4.56 4.57 4.58 4.59 4.6 4.56 4.54 4.56: oldest solids about 4.56 billion years 4.54: Earth about 4.54 billion years - Earth's layers came first
- The oldest solids, then Earth and its layers
- Earth formed long before the Sun
- They formed in the same instant
How does a boiled egg compare with Earth's layers, by Esme's reading (USGS)?
Drawing of a boiled egg cut in half beside Earth's cutaway. Drawing of a boiled egg cut in half beside Earth's cutaway. egg half shell white yolk = = = Earth crust mantle core - The shell is as thick as the white
- Shell like the crust, white like the mantle, yolk like the core
- Shell like the core, yolk like the crust
- The yolk is liquid throughout, like the inner core