Improvement of Teaching Material on the Earth’s Layered Structure

Abstract

The layered structure of the Earth, which consists of a core, mantle, crust, hydrosphere, and atmosphere, is basically controlled by specific gravity. Although a teaching material to aid understanding of the development of this structure has been developed, it has a disadvantage for classroom teaching because it involves mercury. We improved the teaching material by substituting powdered stainless steel for mercury. In order to ascertain the effectiveness of the development, we carried out a questionnaire survey, and the results showed no marked decrease in the usefulness of the material. But in contrast, when experiencing this material before experiencing the hanging-type educational material used to demonstrate specific gravity, for example, of woods and metals, the usefulness of the hanging-type material drops. When combining multiple sensory educational materials, it is important to harmonize the information on sense perceptions obtained from each material.