“Planetary Puzzles and Seismic Solutions” by Emily Wolin and Marie Breitenstein

Edited by Tim Patterson

We ask students to consider how we know anything about the Earth’s interior. Our activity is designed to lead students through the same steps that seismologists used to discover Earth’s liquid outer core. In doing so, they learn about P and S waves and discover the structure of a mystery planet.

This lesson is free to download for use in your classroom.
Click to download the lesson plan as a printable PDF or an editable Word Document.

Grade Level: 6-8
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Skills and Topics: General Science, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Modeling, Seismic waves, Earth interior