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Name: _______________________________________ Hour: ___________
Directions: Create your own tectonic plates! Design a brand new continent that could be found
on the planet Earth. Name it, draw it, and draw it attached to a plate as part of plate tectonics on
the Earth. In your drawing, include other plates so that your continent’s plate includes
convergent, divergent, and transform (strike-slip) plate boundaries. In the places where these
plate boundaries occur, draw in any possible features that could be realistically created as a result
of these boundaries (mountains, islands, earthquakes, trenches, etc.) in the appropriate places.
Step 1: Brainstorm to Get Started (use p. 34-35):
1) Convergent Boundaries form when plates are moving ______________________________
(direction). If this occurs on land, it would form __________________________________ and
if it occurs under the ocean it would form ____________________________________.
2) Divergent Boundaries form when plates are moving ________________________________
(direction). If this occurs on land, it would form __________________________________ and
if it occurs under the ocean it would form ____________________________________.
3) Transform Boundaries form when plates are moving _______________________________
(direction). Regardless of whether this occurs on land or under the ocean, it will form
____________________________________.
Step 2: Design a Creatively Shaped Continent and Tectonic Plate, which
borders other Tectonic Plates (Use Inside Earth p. 33 for an example):
1) Use the blank space on the back of this page to sketch out your individually designed
continent which is a part of a tectonic plate. Then, add nearby tectonic plates that border one
another so that the plates resemble (but are not exactly the same as!) the map of the Earth’s
tectonic plates on p. 33 in your textbook.
2) Next, decide which direction each tectonic plate will be moving. Add arrows to the tectonic
plate to show the direction it is slowly moving.
3) At the boundaries (borders) of 2 tectonic plates, determine which direction the plates are
moving relative to one another. Make sure that you have at least one divergent, convergent, and
transform boundary in your drawing. Then, based on the type of plate boundary, add in any
features that would realistically be created in that location (mountains, volcanoes, islands, etc.)
Step 3: Final Copy Drawing
1) Once your teacher has approved your rough draft sketch, use computer paper to create a neat,
detailed, colored final copy drawing. Make sure that each of the 3 plate boundaries are labeled,
arrows show the directions of plate movement, and that all appropriate features (mountains,
volcanoes, etc.) are drawn in accurately. Also, name your new continent!