Begin the Earth model of the project by providing students with a marble-sized amount of brown clay and ping-pong ball-sized amounts of orange, yellow and blue clay. Tell students that the brown clay represents Earth's relatively small, solid core and have them create a sphere with it. Give students the orange then the yellow clay, explaining that they represent the outer core and mantle. Have them wrap the orange around the brown core, followed by the yellow, rolling to form a sphere each time. Give students blue clay and instruct them to flatten it to a thin layer, representing the Earth's crust. Have them wrap the blue around the clay Earth model and roll to smooth the sphere, finishing the Earth model part of the project.
Show students illustrations of the solar system and explain how Earth and the other planets orbit around the sun. Provide students with colored clay representative of the different planets. Tinted salt dough can be used in place of clay for a more economical option. Instruct the class as a whole group, guiding them to create appropriately sized and colored spheres of clay or salt dough to represent the remaining planets and the sun. Give each student a shallow box or box lid, lined with black construction paper, in which to lay out the planet models around the sun. These can later be glued down in the box if desired.
Instruct students to look at their Earth model's blue crust. Explain that the Earth's surface is mostly water but also contains rock and land masses. Give students small amounts of green and brown clay to represent land and rock. Show students a globe, pointing out the continents and various islands. Direct students to use bits of green and brown clay to create continents and islands to attach to their Earth. Remind students there are only seven continents and that each has a distinct shape. Continue to point out the continents' size and shape to kindergartners as they work to create models of the continents with thin clay to attach to the Earth's blue crust. Focus on kindergartners learning the concept of continents, land masses and rocks that make up the Earth's surface rather than on creating exact replica shapes of the continents.
Ask students what types of natural things the Earth provides humans and animals. Explain that these things are called natural resources. Provide each student with a small piece of white poster board. After the class discussion, have kindergartners complete the project by creating a drawing on the poster board that illustrates the natural resources the Earth provides. To present the project, have students lay out the planets in the box and stand the poster board natural resource drawing behind the box, taping it to the box near the bottom of the drawing.