Mission 1: Inside the Earth
Teacher note
Students slice open the Earth in the lab (crust, mantle, outer core, inner core) and predict whether the hottest layer is solid or liquid. Then they ride a pretend drill pod down to the center in the Drill Pod Dive game: 5 stops. At each stop they read the depth gauge and use the Layer Guide to name the layer, open the window and say what it is like outside (solid rock, hot rock that flows slowly, liquid metal or solid metal), then subtract to find how many miles are left to the center (about 4,000 miles down). A missed stop is explained and comes back later with new numbers, so guessing does not finish the game. Depths in the game: crust 0 to 40 miles, mantle 40 to 1,800, outer core 1,800 to 3,200, inner core 3,200 to the center at about 4,000. Lessons cover the four layers, the thin crust and the deepest hole ever drilled, heat, slow mantle flow and pressure, and how earthquake waves and Earth's magnetism tell us what is inside. Enter the teacher code to turn off reading waits and get a jump menu for testing.