A Study of the Lithosphere

Ed IngmanScience Teacher

Dean of AcademicsThe Charles School at Ohio

Dominican UniversityColumbus, Ohio

Bell Ringer Question...

What layer of the Earth is the outermost?    1. Core    2. Crust    3. Outer mantle

Pre-Assessment:

Give the relative thicknesses of the various layers of the lithosphere.  Your total should not exceed 100.

                 ____ Inner Core          ____ Outer Core        ____ Lower Mantle     ____ Upper Mantle        ____ Oceanic Crust    ____ Total

Let’s look at some data!!!

Lithosphere Overview• Core

– Composed of the inner core and the outer core.– The inner core is solid and composed of…– The outer core is semi-liquid and composed of…– The core is 3718km thick in total.

• Mantle– Composed of the lower mantle and the upper mantle.– The upper mantle is molten rock (also known as magma)– The mantle is 2686km thick in total.

• Crust– Composed of the oceanic crust (thinnest) and the continental crust

(thickes).– The oceanic crust is between 0.1 and 10km thick. The continental

can get up to 50km thick.– Comprises 0.1% of the lithosphere in terms of thickness!

Let’s compare our numbers to actual data

What is this like?• Get back together with your small groups

and develop an analogy for what the layers of the lithosphere are like.

• Need help? Complete this sentence, “The layers of the lithosphere are like…[insert object]”

• Type them up on your netbooks and be prepared for me to display yours.

Let’s make it stick…

If the layers of the lithosphere was like an apple, and your class proportions were accurate, the skin of the apple would be ¾” thick! Human hair would be 2 inches thick!! Human skin would 3 ½” thick! That’s a 50% increase in thickness!

So now what?

• We’ve looked at ways to present the data.– Review: Pulled up student screens, had

students collaborate in small groups, discussed, used technology to lecture, and did polling.

• Now what do we do with all of this great work?– Ideas: Digital portfolios and on-line course

management software.

Archiving

Faculty ePortfolios

Faculty ePortfolios

WordPressWordPressGoogle SitesGoogle Sites