What would it look like if we took a huge chain saw and cut the earth in half? Maybe we can get a small idea of what that would be:

Prepare a model to represent the interior of the earth. Place a pea (or a peanut) in the center of a ball of plasticene about 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Cover this ball with a layer of clay of a different color, making a sphere with a total diameter of 2 1/2 inches.

Dip the ball in plaster of Paris to give it a thin coating of plaster. When the plaster of Paris is dry, cut the sphere in half. Examine the model and its components.

The interior of the earth is made up of the inner core, the outer core, the mantle, and the crust.

The inner core is thought to be made of solid iron, nickel, and other metals. (That is more exciting than a peanut or a pea!)

The outer core is made up of very hot, near-liquid iron and other metals. The mantle is made of heavy rock, both solid and liquid (magma).

Lastly, the crust is made up of many different kinds of rocks, minerals, and soil, all of which probably came from the inside of the earth in the beginning.