The layers inside the Earth

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   “Cutaway, not to scale: earthquake-wave paths from one side of Earth;” S waves from earthquakes cannot travel through liquid. Instruments on the far side of Earth pick up no S waves. What does Esme conclude?

   • The inner core is the liquid layer
   • The whole mantle is liquid lava
   • Scientists drilled straight down to the core to check
   • There is a liquid layer deep inside: the outer core
2. 2.

   The deepest hole ever drilled is about 12 km deep. So how do scientists know what is inside the Earth, as Jun explains?

   • From rock samples drilled out of the core
   • From photos taken deep inside the Earth
   • From the way earthquake waves travel through it
   • From lava that rises straight up from the core
3. 3.

   Cutaway, not to scale, with the inner core labeled hottest and solid, and arrows pressing inward labeled pressure. Earthquake waves show that the inner core is solid, even though it is the hottest layer. Why can it stay solid, according to Kira?

   • The pressure there is enormous
   • It is made of stone, not metal
   • It is actually the coolest layer
   • It is liquid; the waves are wrong

4. Read this first

   Use this

   Table, Depth to the bottom of each layer (USGS, rounded), with columns Layer and Bottom depth, depth below a continent: crust to about 30 km; mantle to about 2,900 km; outer core to about 5,100 km; inner core to the center, about 6,370 km.

5. 4.

   Using the same depth table, which layer is at 6,000 km below the surface, by Milo's count?

   • The inner core
   • The mantle
   • Past the center and out the other side
   • The outer core
6. 5.

   “not to scale” Ocean crust is only about 5 km thick. Which layer would Noah reach 10 km below the sea floor?

   • The outer core
   • A layer of liquid lava
   • The mantle
   • Still the crust, since crust is 30 km everywhere
7. 6.

   Pia's friend says the crust floats on an ocean of liquid lava. Which response is best?

   • Disagree: the crust sits right on the core with no mantle between
   • Agree: the mantle is liquid metal
   • Agree: lava from volcanoes shows it
   • Disagree: the mantle is mostly solid rock that flows slowly
8. 7.

   The crust, a drill hole labeled about 12 km, and the mantle far below. Tala's cousin says scientists have drilled down into the mantle and looked at it. Which response is best?

   • Agree: drilling is how the core was mapped
   • Agree: the mantle starts just below the soil
   • Disagree: the crust is about 1,000 km thick
   • Disagree: the deepest hole is about 12 km, still in the crust
9. 8.

   Zee builds a clay model of Earth's layers with the crust as thick as the mantle. What is wrong with the model?

   • Nothing; the crust is the thickest layer
   • The mantle should be runny clay, like lava
   • The crust should be a very thin outer skin
   • The inner and outer core should swap places
10. 9.

    “Drawing of a model cut in half:” In Ari's model, the outer core is solid clay and the inner core is a small water balloon. What is wrong?

    • The mantle should be the water balloon
    • The core should be the thinnest layer
    • The states are swapped: outer core liquid, inner core solid
    • Nothing; the center is liquid
11. 10.

    Drawing of the model colored red at the surface, fading to blue at the center. Bo colors the model from red at the surface to blue at the center, to show hot to cold. What is wrong?

    • The colors are backward; the center is hottest
    • The crust should be hottest, since it is nearest the Sun
    • Nothing; deeper layers are cooler
    • The mantle should be the hottest color