One day Jamal and Chris were playing baseball at the park. Chris wound up and through Jamal a heater down the middle. Jamal connected the bat with the ball and sent it sailing high in the sky.

Jamal and Chris looked all over for the ball, but couldn't find it. Finally, they looked in the sewer and saw their ball laying there so they went down to get it. Once they retrieved the ball, Chris saw a weird passage in the sewer that led down into the Earth's crust.

At first, they were unsure about where they were. Then they remembered being taught by Mrs. Rudisell that this was the Earth's crust. They knew that the crust is about 3-5 miles thick under the oceans and about 25 miles thick under the continents. The temperatures of the crust vary from air temperature on top to about 1600 degrees Fahrenheit in the deepest parts.

Jamal and Chris wanted to continue their exploration of the Earth. They wanted to make it to the center of the Earth. The next layer they encountered was the mantle. They could tell it was the mantle because they felt more pressure and it was composed of hot, dense rock. They could tell this was the largest layer because of how thick it was and how long it took them to cross (1,800 miles thick).

Jamal and Chris thought their parents would be looking for them. They decided that they couldn't go back now because they were too far into their journey and it was such a cool experience.

They had just arrived at the Outer Core which is located about 1800 miles beneath the crust and is about 1400 miles thick. They could tell they reached the Outer Core because the temperature rose very quickly. Since the Outer Core is in a liquid state composed of nickel and iron they had to swim through it. Their swim lessons were paying off.

Jamal and Chris were so excited that they had reached the Inner Core. They knew that it was a big sphere of iron and nickel so it would be hard to get through. They also knew that it was the most dense layer out of all of them. Jamal asked to stop and go back to the surface of the Earth because he couldn't handle the pressure and heat and Chris agreed. The temperature of the Inner Core may reach 9000 degrees Fahrenheit and the pressures are 45,000,000 pounds per square inch.

Jamal and Chris were so impressed with what they saw, but they were ready to head back home. In order to get there they had to pass back through each layer which then took them back through the sewer. When they got back they told their parents not only about their day of playing baseball, but their interesting journey to the center of the Earth.