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?
- The Moon's pull stacked the layers
- Earth formed in layers from the start
- Light rock sank to the center
- Dense iron sank and lighter rock rose while Earth was molten
What had to happen before Earth's iron could sink to the center, by Bo's reading?
- Earth had to cool and freeze solid
- Nothing; the layers were there from the start
- The iron had to float to the top
- Earth had to be hot enough to partly melt
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)?
- Water
- A giant magnet that makes the magnetic field
- Iron and nickel
- Light crust rock
Which layer is liquid, by Jun's reading (USGS)?
- The outer core
- Each layer
- The inner core
- The crust
What creates Earth's magnetic field, by Milo's reading (USGS)?
Cutaway with arrows swirling in the liquid outer core. Cutaway with arrows swirling in the liquid outer core. liquid outer core - The solid crust's iron rocks
- A giant bar magnet in the crust
- The spinning liquid outer core
- The Moon
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 order runs from least dense to most dense, by Noah's reading?
- Crust, mantle, core
- Core, mantle, crust
- Mantle, crust, core
- They are equally dense
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
Timeline ruler in billions of years. About how old is Earth, by Tala's reading (USGS)?
- About 4.54 billion years
- About 13.8 billion years, the universe's age
- About 6,000 years
- About 4.54 million years
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
- Earth formed long before the Sun
- The oldest solids, then Earth and its layers
- 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
- The yolk is liquid throughout, like the inner core
- Shell like the core, yolk like the crust