BIOLOGY &

GEOLOGY
THE GEOSPHERE

ACTIVITIES
1. Answer the following questions.
a) What are the layers of the Earth?
___________________________________________________________________
b) Which layers are mainly composed of rocks?
___________________________________________________________________
c) What is the core made of?
___________________________________________________________________

2. Complete the text using the following words (there are two extra words):
crust / liquid / largest / mountainous / solid / more / less / mantle

Basic Structure of the Earth

“At the very center of the Earth is a solid, dense inner core made mostly of iron with smaller
amounts of nickel, oxygen, silicon, and sulfur. Pressure from the layers above causes the inner
core to be ________. Above the inner core lies the _______ outer core, which also is made
mainly of iron.
Earth’s mantle is the __________ layer, lying directly above the outer core. It is made
mostly of silicon, oxygen, magnesium, and iron.
The outermost layer of Earth is the _________. Its thickness varies. It is more than 60 km
thick in some _______________ regions and less than 5 km thick under some parts of the
oceans. Compared to the mantle, the crust contains more silicon and aluminum and less
magnesium and iron. Earth’s crust generally is _________ dense than the mantle beneath it.”

3. Match the words with their definitions.

1. Crust a. is the innermost layer made of iron and nickel

2. Mantle b. is a liquid layer
3. Outer core c. it makes up the majority of Earth’s volume
4. Inner core d. is the rocky layer that forms Earth’s surface

1st ESO A7.3