Download 4 layers of Earth and Plate Activity notes

Layers of the Earth and Plate
Tectonics Activity
What is Geology
• Geo- Earth
• Ology is the study of
• This activity will help us study the earth by
learning what it is made of and how it can be
changed
4 layers of the Earth
1.
2.
3.
4.
Crust
Mantle
Inner core
Outer core
Milky Way- cut in half
• Chocolate- crust- thinnest layer made of rocks
and soil (land we walk on and under the sea)
• Caramel- mantle- holt molten rock, what
would come out of a volcano
• Light brown layer- outer core- liquid iron
• Bottom layer of chocolate- inner core, solid
iron and is the hottest layer (almost as hot as
sun)
Plate Tectonics
• Plates- large section of the Earth’s crust that
slowly move over partially melted rock in the
upper mantle
• This movement explain how the Earth’s
surface has changed over time and we can
predict how it will change in the future
 formation, movements, collusions,
destruction of Earth’s crust
PT- Activity
•
•
1
2
Frosting- mantle
Graham cracker- crust
Spread frosting on wax paper
Place 2 graham cracker on frosting – make
sure they are touching
Divergent Plate Boundary
• Move plates apart to expose mantle 
spreading zone.
• When plates move apart, it creates cracks in
the Earth called rift valley
• Allows hot, melted rock to come up through
the cracks  volcano opening is formed
• Sea floor spreading- new sea floor created
• http://geology.com/nsta/divergent-boundaryoceanic.gif
Convergent Plate Boundary
• Push plates back together until the middle
forms a ridge
• When plates collide they create mountains
this is called a collision zone
• Appalachian mountains – Africa collided with
North America during formation of Pangea
• Destroy sea floor- ocean plates more dense
than land plates, when they converge ocean
plates slide under land plates
3 sub types
• Ocean to ocean
• Ocean to continental
• Continental to continental
• http://geology.com/nsta/convergent-plateboundaries.shtml
Transform Plate boundary
• Slide the edges of plates against each other
• This horizontal grinding and sliding of the
plates causes earthquakes
• This is called a shearing fault
• A fault is a fracture in the Earth’s crust
• New Madrid Fault- runs along the eastern
border of Missouri
• San Andreas Fault- most studied