Layers of the Earth Model

We are studying Earth Science this year and wanted to make models showing the layers of the earth.  I allowed the kids to decide what medium they wanted to use to make their models, and they both decided on dough.  We used Lakeshore Learning's Scented Dough, which is a little softer than we like, but it is easy to work with and smells good.  

The dough comes in Red, Yellow, Green, Blue & Purple.  We mixed red and yellow to make orange.

I didn't think to take pictures during the first few steps, but they each started with a yellow ball for the inner core.  Next, they surrounded the yellow ball with a layer of orange for the outer crust.  The next layer was the mantle, which they did in red.  Lastly, they covered their growing spheres in blue and added green details for the crust.  

Next, we cut the models in half to see the different layers.  This proved a little challenging, as the dough was so soft.  

The spheres smashed a little when they were cut, and the inner layers didn't stay round.  Also, the red and orange blended a bit, but we were happy with the results.  It was a simple and fun project that both kids enjoyed.