Discovery Education Online (school.discoveryeducation.com) has an Earth Ship standing by to carry students on a microscopic safari through the earth's outermost layer: soil. Soil is formed from rocks, decaying animals and plants, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Online (epa.gov.). The Soil Safari Game at Discovery Education Online allows kids to co-pilot the ship into a mole hole down into the Earth's surface. Kids can magnify and scan items organisms beneath the soil, such as bacteria, insects and root fungus. After exploring the soil, kids discovery a toxic chemical before they are washed to the surface through a kitchen faucet.
Log onto Soft Schools Online (softschools.com) and arrange the tiles with your mouse, placing the Earth's layers in the correct order. Hit the submit button before time runs out. Play against your previous score or against a friend.
Purpose Games Online (purposegames.com) offers a point and click quiz game, Layers of the Earth, that gives the student a layer prompt. The student then must click on the correct dot within the corresponding layer. Quizes are positive ways to practice layer skills before a test.
Distribute card-stock to each student within the third-grade classroom. Discuss each layer of the Earth beginning with the outer layer. Instruct students to draw a line for each layer and label it as you move forward in your discussion. Students can label the layers as if the Earth was cut in half. After the discussion, students can color each layer correctly and then cut them out. Students can enjoy swapping puzzles while practicing putting the layer pieces together. As the students swap, the student is to leave one of the pieces out, hidden in their desk. The student putting the pieces together can guess the missing layer. If the student guesses correctly, she wins the missing piece and can play again by swapping with another winning player. Teachers can also time students on putting pieces together.
Have a list of Earth-related trivia questions ready before the game begins. Distribute clear plastic cups to students to represent the Earth. Distribute items, such as rock, sand, clay and soil in separate paper cups, each representing the Earth's layers. Ask students to label the clear cups with the layer labels and draw lines around the cup before you begin. Ask a trivia question. Instruct all students to write down the answer. Give them time to answer the question. When time is up, ask students to raise their notebooks. All students who answered correctly can add the first layer (the core). As the game progresses, layers get added. The first players to complete the layers win.