Earth's Structure

Start with Earth's layers

The resources on this page offer different ways to study Earth's structure. A Restless Earth mind map shows the crust, upper mantle and lithosphere. Another mind map with the same title groups information under the core, mantle and crust. Use these maps to see how the layers are organized before working through individual terms.

The flashcards in The structure of the earth ask about the outer layer, the mantle and what makes up the lithosphere. They also prompt you to draw Earth's structure and consider how we know what is beneath the crust.

Practice with flashcards and quizzes

After studying a map, use the flashcards to recall the layer names without looking. The Geography Chapter 1 deck includes terms such as crust, lithosphere, Moho and asthenosphere. It also includes terms related to continental drift and sea floor spreading.

The chapter test quiz asks about waves of energy that travel through Earth and the names of Earth's layers. It also includes a question about the lithosphere and the Moho. Take the quiz after using the maps and flashcards, then return to the resources for any terms you want to study again.

Connect the topic to Plate Tectonics

Earth's Structure is one section of the Plate Tectonics unit in Geography. The page's resources connect the structure of Earth with plates: the Restless Earth map describes the crust as divided into plates, while a slide set introduces tectonic natural hazards caused by plate movements.

Other resources, including the Plate tectonics quiz, give you a way to explore that connection within the unit. Choose a resource to continue studying Earth's Structure.