Make a Fan with Earth's Layers

So Much Beneath the Surface

We spend pretty much all our time on Earth’s crust. It’s where all the land and oceans are. But below the crust, there’s a lot going on.

The crust is a lot like the skin on an apple. It doesn’t go very deep. But it’s still deeper than you could ever dig. It’s about 19 miles (30 km) deep on average on land. At the bottom of the ocean, the crust is still about 3 miles (5 km) deep.

Below the crust is Earth’s biggest layer: the mantle. The mantle is a rocky, mostly solid layer that moves slowly beneath the crust. The mantle goes 1,800 miles (2,900 km) deep. Below the mantle is the outer core; it’s made of liquid iron and nickel. At the center of Earth is the inner core. It’s a solid center made of iron and nickel metals.

The colors in this diagram are the same colors used in the Earth Fan worksheet below. Remember what each color represents as you assemble and use your fan.

Be a Fan of Earth and Make an Earth Fan!

To remember that Earth is much more than just the surface we see every day, make this Earth layer fan.

What You'll Need

• 3 copies of the Earth Fan worksheet
  (Available in a black and white version for coloring)


• Scissors


• Glue stick


• 2 jumbo popsicle sticks

What To Do

1. Print three copies of the Earth Fan worksheet.



2. Cut out the three square shapes.





3. Fold along the first dotted line.





4. Flip over the paper and fold to the next dotted line.





5. Keep folding, turning the paper over after each fold, until you’ve folded a fan.





6. Fold the fan in half.





7. Glue the inside of the fold together to create a small fan section.







8. Repeat steps three through seven with the other two printouts. Now you have three small fans.





9. Glue the first section to your popsicle stick with the fold of the fan touching the top of the popsicle stick.





10. Glue the next fan section on top. Make sure the fan folds point the same direction.





11. Glue the last fan section on top.





12. Glue the other popsicle stick on top. Press down to get a good seal.







13. Let the glue dry for a few minutes.



14. Open your fan and cool yourself off.