LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET IN GRADE 8-

SCIENCE
WEEK 3
What's Inside the Earth
Learning Competency:
Explain how earthquake waves provide
information about the interior of the earth
(S8ES-IIc-17)
 Ready to Launch

What is Earthquake waves?

We often think of earthquakes as something harmful and the reason is obvious. But
earthquakes help scientists figure out what is inside the Earth. How? As you know by now, when a
fault suddenly moves, an earthquake is generated.
The shaking starts from the focus and spreads out. You can get an idea of how this happens
by throwing a pebble into a pond. See the ripples that move out in circles? The vibrations
from the focus are something like that.
When an earthquake occurs, the shockwaves of released energy that shake the Earth are
called earthquake waves or Seismic Waves, from the Greek word “ seismos” meaning 'earthquake'.

Aim at the Target

This module aims to:

Explain how earthquake waves provide information about the interior of the earth.
(S8ES-IIc-17)
Furthermore it specifically aims to:
1. Explain the different types of earthquake waves;
2. Explain the behaviour of earthquake waves as it travels through the different layers of the
Earth.

Try this!

Directions: Label the different layers of the Earth. Write

your answer in your Science notebook.

htps://handygeograph.wordpress.com/gcse/the-restless-earth-revision-materials/structure-of-the-
earth/-pictureofhe layers
 Keep this in mind

Types of Seismic Waves

There are three types of seismic waves, the P-waves, S-waves and surface waves. P-
waves and S-waves are sometimes collectively called body waves. In this lesson, we will
focus only with the two principal types of waves, the P and S waves.
P-waves, also known as primary waves travels fastest and are the first to arrive from
the earthquake. It can travel through solid, liquid or gas.
S-waves, or secondary waves, are the second waves to arrive during an earthquake.
They are much slower than P-waves and can travel only through solids.

As seismic waves travel through the body of the Earth, they behave in different ways,
depending on what they encounter along way.
For example, as seismic waves travel deeper into the crust, they speed up. That means
that at depth the rocks are denser. In the upper part of the mantle, the waves slow down. That
means the rocks there are partially molten.
As the waves reach the core, one kind of seismic waves( s-waves), disappears. This means
that the outer core is liquid. In 1936, the innermost layer of the Earth was predicted by Inge
Lehmann, a Danish seismologist. He discovered a new region of seismic reflection withiin the
core. Based on the figure 1.0 below, we can say that the outer part of the core is liquid based from
the production of an S wave shadow and the inner part must be solid with a different density that
the rest of the surrounding material.
At certain depths, the waves are refracted (bent) and reflected. That means the earth must
be layered.
Thus, earthquake waves give us the picture of the earth's interior, the way an ultrasound
provides an image of the baby inside the womb. This is why scientists know a bit of our home
planet, even if no one has gone deep into the Earth yet.

https://opentextbc.ca/physicalgeologyearle/up-content/uploads/site/145/2016/06/shadow-2-png
Figure 1.0 Patterns of seismic wave propagation through Earth's mantle and core. S-waves do
not travel through the liquid core so they leave a shadow on Earth's far side. P-waves do travel
through the core, but because the waves that enter the core are refracted, there are also P-
wave shadow zones.
 Analysis

Directions: Answer the following questions and write it in your Science notebook.

1. What are the two principal types of seismic waves discussed in

the activity sheet?

___________________________
___________________________

2. What type of seismic wave travels fastest?

________________________________

3. How do seismic waves behave as it pass through different

layers of the earth?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________.

4. Is using seismic data accurate in knowing layers of the

earth?

___________________________________

5. How can you conclude that the Earth's outer core is liquid?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________.
 Abstraction and Generalization

P-waves travels faster than S-waves.

P-waves can travel through solid, liquid, and gas while S-waves can travel only
through solid.

Earthquakes generate seismic waves that ripple through the solid earth.

When P waves hit a liquid or partially liquid layer, they bend.

When P waves reach the solid layer, they bend again.All that bending of
waves creates a shadow zone

P-waves generally bend outward as they travel through the mantle due to the
increased density of mantle rocks with depth.

When P-waves strike the outer core, however, they bend downward when
travelling through the outer core and bend again when they leave. This
indicates that P-waves slow down in the outer core, suggesting that this layer
has a significantly different composition from the mantle and may actually be
liquid.
S-waves disappears through the outer core, therefore it is believed that outer
core is liquid.

Based on the observations on data gathered by the seismologists, we can

conclude that:

Earth's crust is solid.

Mantle is solid.
Outer core is liquid.
Inner core is solid.
 Application

Directions: Compare the layers of the earth to a hard-boiled egg cut into
half. What similarities did you notice?

Reflection

Directions: Complete the statements below. Write your answer in your Science notebook.

I understand _______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________.
I don't understand __________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________.
I need more information about ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________.

Reinforcement and Enrichment

Directions: Answer the following question in your Science notebook.

Based on what you have studied, how scientists hve been able to explain the Earth' s interior
without being able to directly observe inside the Earth?
 Assess your Learning

Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answer in your Science notebook.

1. What type of seismic waves travels fastest?

a. P-waves
b. Surface waves
c. S-waves
d. None of the above.

2. How do scientist learn about the physical properties of the Earth's layers?
a. They ask major political leaders their opinion about the layers of the Earth.
b. They discuss and debate ideas about Earth's layers after looking at the internet.
c. They study scientific books about Earth.
d. They measure seismic waves and make inferences based on the changes in wave speed.

3. Why there is no S-waves travel through Earth's core?

a. the outer core is liquid and s-waves can't travel through liquids.
b. the outer core is solid and s-waves can't travel trhough solids.
c. the outer core is mettalic and s-waves can't travel through it.
d. the outer core cannot be penetrated by seismic waves.

4. P-waves can travel through_____________

a. liquid only
b. solid, liquid and gas
c. solid and liquid
d. solid only

5. Earthquakes are useful for studying Earth's interior because____________.

a. each earthquake produces an array of seismic waves
b. earthquakes are extremely destructive
c. they happen below the surface of the earth
d. they release stress that has been stored.

References and Photo Credits

LAYERS OF THE EARTH -htps://handygeograph.wordpress.com/gcse/the-restless-earth-revision-

materials/structure-of-the-earth/-pictureofhe layers
S-WAVES AND P-WAVES-https://opentextbc.ca/physicalgeologyearle/up-content/uploads/site/
145/2016/06/shadow-2-png
SEISMIC WAVE DEFINITION-https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/340-seismic-waves
SEISMIC WAVES AND EARTH'S INTERIOR DISCUSSION- Science 10 LM, first edition, 2015 pages 44-46.
-Science 8 LM page 135-136
 Answer Key

TRY THIS: ANALYSIS:

Crust 1. P-waves and S-waves
Mantle 2. P-waves
Outer Core 3. Seismic waves reflect and refract as it travel
Inner Core through different layers of the Earth, due to
changes in composition, pressure and
temperature within the layers of the Earth.
4. Yes
5. S-waves disappear while travelling through
the outer core. Since S-waves do not travel in
liquids, it is therefore conclude that the outer
core is liquid.

Application:
The inside of the earth is layered something like an egg. Both have a thin, brittle shell. The
crust of the earth is broken into pieces, like the cracked shell of a hardboiled egg. The mantle
of the earth is like the egg white and the core of the earth lies in the center, like the egg yolk.

Reinforcement:
Scientists analyze how earthquake waves move through Earth's interior.

Assess your Learning:

1. a
2. d
3. a
4. b
5. a

Prepared by:
DANNICA A. DE LA CRUZ
SST-1
Jacinto Montilla Memorial National High School