Layers lead to learning about earth's interior

Tracey Burnette of South Gallia Middle School attended OOGEEP's summer Geology workshop. She used lessons from that workshop with her eighth grade students, and here's what she has to share about that experience!

Differentiation of Earth’s Layers
The first activity we adjusted using sand, oil, and syrup in plastic jars with lids. Each group layered their materials and watched how the layers settled in the jar. Then they discussed the different layers of the earth and how they formed. We answered the reflection questions in our lab notebooks. The students enjoyed this activity. Some of the groups shook up their jars and others let them settle without shaking. The students were able to see the difference shaking the jar made. Because we used syrup, some of the syrup stuck to the sand. We also talked about how using just a little oil and 48 times more syrup and 57 times more sand than oil would make the layers more proportional.

Scaling our earth’s layers
In this activity, the students used a compass to scale out earth’s layers. Each student scaled their drawing using the thickness of each layer and created a drawing of earth proportional to the actual earth’s dimensions. The students had a lot of trouble using the compass. I thought this would be easier than the large paper, but next time I will use the large paper model.

Mapping Earth’s Layers
The students completed this activity and we discussed the major properties of each layer. This was used as a wonderful review for the previous lessons. The students had trouble making the boxes. I might make the boxes ahead of time next time so they can just fill in the box.

Puzzling Evidence
The students colored and cut out the map of the continents and tried to piece the pieces back together to make one super continent. This took more time than I anticipated. Some students did not even use the colors to match up the fossils. I really think this activity helped the students connect the idea of fossils and continental drift.

What did you think of the OOGEEP workshop?
This workshop was phenomenal. Visiting the landfill changed my whole way of thinking. My husband and I did not recycle. We thought it was too difficult because we did not have anywhere to take our recyclables. After visiting the landfill, we decided to recycle. We found a place to take our recyclables, bought totes for the back deck, and make time every month to take them to the bin. It has cut down on our trash by over half.

I also loved the fossil exploration. Chiseling out my own fossils has changed the way I look at rock formations.