Download Name Plate Tectonics Introduction Go to the following site: http

Name ________________________
Plate Tectonics Introduction
Go to the following site: http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/index.html
On the top of the screen are different tabs, click on each section as listed below. To move
through the section, click the next button.
Section: Earth’s Structure
1. What do scientists study to learn about the earth’s interior?
2. What are the three distinct layers earth’s interior can be broken up into?
3. Roll your mouse over the following labels on the diagram and answer the questions.
a) Crust
-Give a brief description:
-How thick is the crust under the oceans?
-How thick is the crust under the continents?
b) Mantle
-What are the 2 regions of the mantle?
-What type of rock makes up the mantle?
-How thick is the mantle?
c) Inner Core
-What is the inner core made out of (list both answers)?
-What is the diameter of the inner core?
d) Outer Core
-How is the outer core different than all the other layers of the earth?
-What is the outer core made out of (list both answers)?
-What is the diameter of the outer core?
4. Draw a rough sketch of a cross section of the earth’s crust and mantle (be certain
to label mantel, crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere)
Section: Plate Tectonics
1. Which picture looks more like earth today (left or right)?
2. The picture on the left is from how many years ago (approximately)?
3. After selecting “How Do We Know This” answer the following questions.
a. Who was the first person to notice that the continents appeared to fit together
like puzzle pieces?
b. What are the 2 other pieces of evidence that he found?
c. What was the name he gave to his supercontinent?
d. What theory did these ideas lead to?
e. What are the 2 major landmasses that formed when Pangaea split apart roughly
200 million years ago?
f. How long ago did Greenland separate from North America?
g. The theory of plate tectonics states that the earth’s lithosphere is broken into
large slabs of crust that are called what?
h. What do these plates hold?
4. Complete the “Continents Over Time” simulation and answer the following questions.
a. What do scientists think will happen to all of the continents 250 million years from
now?
b. What is the name that has been given to the new landmass?
SECTION: Plate Tectonics
1. What is the name of the type of crust that is under the continents?
2. What is the name of the type of crust that is under the oceans?
3. What type of crust is the thickest?
4. What type of crust is the oldest?
5. Using the map below, locate each plate listed and write the LETTER of the plate on the
map provided in its correct location.
A) Pacific B) Caribbean C) Cocos D) Scotia E) Antarctic F) Australian G) Pacific
H) Nazca I) North American J) Eurasian K) Juan de Fuca L) African M) Arabian
N) Indian O) South American P) Philippine
6. What is the border between two plates called?
7. How fast are the tectonic plates moving?
8. What are the 3 ways that the tectonic plates can move?
a.
b.
c.
9. List the 3 plate boundaries below and define each:
a.
b.
c.
10. Draw the arrows to describe the direction of movement for the 3 types of boundaries
below.
Convergent boundary
Divergent boundary
Transform boundary
11. Roll your mouse over the key (lower right hand corner) on the plate tectonic map and
then answer the following questions.
a. What type of boundary occurs between the North American Plate and the Juan De
Fuca Plate?
b. What type of boundary occurs between the Antarctic Plate and the Pacific Plate?
c. What type of boundary occurs between the Nazca Plate and the Pacific Plate?
d. What type of boundary occurs between the Caribbean Plate and the North
American Plate?
12. Complete the Plates & Boundaries Challenge. Write down your score on the line below (I
will totally believe your score and not count it against your grade! Promise)
SECTION: Slip, Slide & Collide (click “see what happens at different plate boundaries”)
Convergent Boundaries:
1. If oceanic and continental crust collides, which one will get pulled underneath?
2. What is a subduction zone (describe it in your own words and/or draw a picture)?
3. How do you form a trench?
4. What is another name for a trench?
5. What happens to the crust that is being subducted?
6. The additional magma that is created can form what landform along the coastline?
7. What other 2 colliding plates can cause a subduction zone?
8. What does this type of collision create?
9. What is a tsunami? What can create it?
10. What landform will be created if 2 continental plates collide?
Divergent Boundaries:
11. Describe the process of seafloor spreading.
12. What is a raised ridge on the bottom of the seafloor called?
13. What 2 things form as a result of the magma spreading outward?
14. What occurs to form a rift?
15. As the crust widens and thins, what 2 landforms can form?
16. What can form if a piece of a continent breaks off?
17. Click PLAY and describe what happens:
Transform Boundaries:
18. What does a transform boundary form?
19. What is a fault?
20. What about the rocks (or plates) causes an earthquake to occur?
21. What is the most famous strike-slip fault called?
22. How long does it run?
23. Complete the Plate Interactions Challenge. Write down your score on the line below (I
will totally believe your score and not count it against your grade! Promise)
SECTION: TEST YOUR SKILLS
Write your name in the box and go through each question carefully. At the end you need to
PRINT YOUR RESULTS (only page 1) and attach it to this handout. This will count as a quiz
grade. You may take this quiz as many times as you want and give me the highest one. Feel free
to use your notes and your book. Good luck!