You will need the following items to make your styrofoam ball Earth:
- Styrofoam ball
- Green tempora paint
- Blue tempora paint
- Newspaper
- Paintbrush
- Black tempora paint
- Smocks or old T-shirts
- Globe
Follow the directions below to make your styrofoam Earth:
- Cover each student's desk with several sheets of newspaper to protect the desks. If you need to tape the newspaper down, then it may keep it more secure.
- Place a smock or old T-shirt over each student so that their parents aren't upset when they get paint on their school clothes.
- Hand each student a large styrofoam ball.
- Place a globe somewhere in the classroom, so all of the students have a good view of it. Review hemispheres with the students, so that they understand where the continents and bodies of water should be placed on the styrofoam ball.
- Have students use the green paint to paint all seven continents on their styrofoam balls. They don't have to paint them perfectly, but they should try to be as accurate as possible. The important thing is that they learn geography and where the parts of the Earth are.
- The rest of the Earth is full of water so have the students paint all of the empty spaces on their styrofoam Earth blue.
- Set the styrofoam balls out to dry.
- Dip the hard end of the paintbrush into black paint. Have each student paint the name of each of the seven continents on the appropriate places on the styrofoam Earth. Then, have the students paint the names of the four oceans in their spots. If the student doesn't have room to paint the whole name, then allow them to use abbreviations.
- Set the globes out to dry.
- Display the globes in the classroom for one to two weeks and then allow the students to take their styrofoam model of the Earth home.
