Within the surface of Earth, there are many layers that live inside.

Corey the Inner Core

Corey the Inner Core is in the very middle of the Earth. He is the hottest layer. He is so hot that he is squeezed tightly together like a solid rock!

Ollie the Outer Core

Ollie the Outer Core is the second hottest layer. She lives right next to Corey the Inner Core, who gives her heat. Ollie the Outer Core is made up of super hot, melted metals.

Manny the Mantle

Manny the Mantle is the biggest layer of Earth. He lives right underneath Crystal the Crust. Manny is made up of flowing, melted rock called magma. The movement of this magma is called convection currents.

Magma

Lava

*Magma is super hot, melted rock soup that lives deep underground, mostly in Manny the Mantle's layer. When a volcano erupts, Magma comes out, and once she is outside on the surface, we call her lava!

Crystal the Crust

Crystal the Crust is the very top layer of the Earth — like an eggshell! She’s made of magma that has cooled down and become hard. We all live on Crystal the Crust, walking and building our homes right on her back!

Tectonic Plates

But Crystal isn’t just one big piece — she is broken up into many giant puzzle pieces. These pieces are called tectonic plates.

Crystal the Crust

Magma from Manny the Mantle

Tectonic Plates

Under Crystal, Magma from Manny moves around like soup. This makes the big puzzle pieces called tectonic plates slide around. When they crash or rub together, we get earthquakes and volcanoes!

Tectonic plates can move in 3 main ways.