Learn about what's inside the earth by singing songs, watching a short video, making a craft and reading a book. These resources will help kids learn about what is inside the Earth.
One of our favorite books is Sam and Dave Dig a Hole. It's a really cute story about Sam and Dave, who set off to find something spectacular. They won't stop digging until they find something spectacular.
The hole gets so deep! They even split up and dig. They also dig different directions. Of course, they stop for snacks and a drink too.
Reading this book led my son to ask me, what's inside the earth? Can we dig a hole like Sam and Dave?
Lesson for What's Inside The Earth
So I put together this little lesson to teach him. When teaching my kid, I used the following:
- Sang a short song to introduce terminology. It has a catchy tune to help.
- Watched a SciShow Kid episode "Could I Dig Through the Earth?"
- Made a craft to show the layers of the Earth with some hands on activity
- Read a story book: The Magic School Bus Inside The Earth
- Watched the cartoon: The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top.
1. Watch the videos below
The first video is a quick and fun way to show a kid what's inside the earth.
The second video is a repetitive song that lists the layers of the earth. It's a catchy way to remember the names of the layers.
2. Make a layers of the Earth craft
This is a very simple craft for showing the layers of the Earth.
Supplies to make the craft
You'll need the following:
- pencil
- scissor
- glue
- construction paper in the following colors: yellow, orange, red, black, blue and green.
- five circles to trace in varying sizes
- a metal brad
Directions to make the inside the Earth craft
Trace and cut the circles
The first step is to trace the right sized circles on the right color of construction paper.
Trace the circles from smallest to largest in the following order:
- yellow
- orange
- red
- black
- blue
Next cut the circles out carefully.
Once all the circles are cut out, set aside the blue circle. Layer all the other circles on top of one another from largest to smallest and glue them in a stack.
Cut a section out from the blue circle, making sure you don't go all the way to the middle of the circle.
Place the blue circle on top of your Earth layers, and using a metal brad, poke a hole in the center and connect them together.
The last step is to cut out some green pieces of paper and glue them on to make the continents.
If you don't have a metal brad, you can also glue the blue circle on top. If you would like, you can also label the layers of the Earth.
3. Read the Magic School Bus Inside the Earth
I remember reading this book so I really wanted to share it with my kid!
And the school bus goes completely through the Earth. We love this book for this topic because there is a 2 page spread that shows the layers of the earth.
4. Watch The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top
To continue this topic, we watched The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top. You can find this in Season 2 Episode 1.