Download Plate Tectonics - Rockaway Township School District

Earth Science Progression
Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
Key Concepts
From: Appendix E:
Progressions within the Next Generation Science Standards
Plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains movements
of rocks at Earth’s surface and geological history. Maps are
used to display evidence of plate movement.
Including:
• Layers of the Earth (Internal Structure of
the Earth determined by Seismic Wave
Evidence)
• Types of Plate Movement
• Heat Transfer in the Upper Mantle
(Convection)
• Theories of Plate Movement (Continental
Drift, Plate Tectonics)
• Evidence for Plate Movement, including
Earth Strata, Fossil Evidence
• Weathering and Erosion of Landforms,
Topography
Topic Standard(s)
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MS-ESS1-4
MS-ESS2-2
MS-ESS2-3
Storyline
The performance expectations in ESS1 and ESS2: Earth’s Systems, help students formulate an answer to questions such as: “How do people figure out that the
Earth and life on Earth have changed through time?”, “How do the materials in and on Earth’s crust change over time?”, and “How does the movement of
tectonic plates impact the surface of Earth?”
Students examine geoscience data in order to understand the processes and events in Earth’s history. Students understand how Earth’s geosystems
operate by modeling the flow of energy and cycling of matter within the Earth. On the Earth’s surface, water participates both in the dissolution and
formation of Earth’s materials. The downward flow of water, both in liquid and solid form, shapes landscapes through the erosion, transport, and deposition
of sediment. Shoreline waves in the ocean and lakes are powerful agents of erosion. Over millions of years, coastlines have moved back and forth over
continents by hundreds of kilometers, largely due to the rise and fall of sea level as the climate changed (e.g., ice ages).
Students investigate the properties of important materials and construct explanations based on the analysis of real geoscience data. Of special importance in
both topics are the ways that geoscience processes provide resources needed by society but also cause natural hazards that present risks to society; both
involve technological challenges, for the identification and development of resources. Students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in developing and
using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing data, and constructing explanations and designing solutions; and to use these practices to
demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
Disciplinary Core Ideas(DCI): Science Concept
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
• Tectonics processes continually generate new ocean floor at ridges and destroy old seas floor at trenches.
ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems
• The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and theu operate over fractions of a second to billions of
years. These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future.
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
• Maps of ancient land and water patterns, based on investigations of rocks and fossils, make clear how Earth’s plates have moved great distances,
collided, and spread apart.
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
• Water’s movements – both on the land and underground – cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create
underground formations.
Performance Expectations (PE) / Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary:
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
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MS-ESS1-4. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6
billion-year-old history.
[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how analyses of rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s
history. Examples of Earth’s major events could range from being very recent (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of homo sapiens) to very old (such as the
formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of life). Examples can include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution or extinction of particular
living organisms, or significant volcanic eruptions.) Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the names of specific period or epochs and events
within them.]
MS-ESS2-2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geosciences processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial
scales.
[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at time and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of
large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landsides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes,
and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes include surface weathering and
deposition by the movement of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate]
MS-ESS2-3. Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structure to provide evidence of
the past plate motions.
[Clarification Statement: Examples of data include similarities of rock and fossil types on different continents, the shapes of the continents (including continental
shelves), and the location of ocean structures (such as ridges, fracture zones, and trenches).] [Assessment Boundary; Paleomagnetic anomalies in oceanic and
continental crust are not assessed.)
Essential Question:
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Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
Enduring Understanding:
How does the movement of tectonic plates impact the
surface of Earth?
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Earth’s systems continually interact at different rates of time, affecting
in and on Earth’s crust over time..
Using evidence in rock layers and land features, scientists can figure out
that Earth and life on Earth has changed over time.
Rockaway Township Goals:
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Discuss different theories explaining the formation of the Earth and continental alignment.
Describe and give evidence for the current model of the layers of the Earth.
Understand how geologic events leave a record in rocks and the ocean floor.
Model, discuss, and understand how heat is transferred and affects landforms on Earth.
Describe and give evidence of how the Earth’s surface is transformed by various geoscience processes (i.e.- earthquakes, volcanoes,
meteors, weathering, and erosion).
Read and analyze topographic maps.
Understand how technology has added to our knowledge about the geoscience processes affecting Earth over different time periods.
Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
Unit Learning Targets:
The student will be able to….
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Comprehend that today’s planet
is very different than early Earth.
Identify that the Earth is layered
with a lithosphere; hot, convecting
mantle; and dense, metallic core.
Explain how geoscientists have
proposed models of the Earth’s
interior using indirect evidence
from seismic waves.
Understand that convection
currents in the Earth’s interior
cause the movement of the plates.
Describe that major geological
events, such as earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, and mountain
building, result from the motion
of plates.
Identify the three basic plate
motions and the land forms
created as a result of motion.
Identify that the theory of plate
tectonics is supported by the
following evidence: age and type of
rock, fossils, glacial deposits, coal
deposits, and mountain belts.
In addition, rock mapping of the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, revealing sea
Suggested Activities:
Including Differentiated Strategies (DI)
This curriculum has been revised and updated for September, 2016,
using the NGSS.
Target activities may be modified, revised, or added by the seventh
grade middle school teachers to maintain relevancy to the everchanging scientific world. Changes to target activities will reflect 100%
agreement with the science certified teachers at the seventh grade
level. Any changes to target activities will be shared with grades 6-8 to
provide consistency with all middle school grade levels.
Target Activities:
• Describe and compare the characteristics of each layer of the Earth.
• Describe how technology has influenced what we know about the
internal structure of Earth.
• Describe the location of shadow zones formed by different seismic
waves as these waves travel through the Earth.
• Earthquake Activity: Use the seismograph kit to ‘make an
earthquake’ in the classroom, and then analyze the results of the
tracings to find differences in vertical and horizontal vibrations.
• Investigate the role of the transfer of energy in geophysical
processes that create unique landforms
• Locate and map current and historical evidence and data, such as
volcanism, earthquakes, and ocean features (e.g., mid-ocean ridges
and trenches), to reveal the location of plate margins.
• Pangaea Activity : Study and explore Alfred’s Wegener’s theory of
Continental Drift with supporting evidence from fossils, rocks,
mountain belts and glacier deposits
• Apply historical field evidence, such as the location of fossils, glacial
Vocabulary:
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contour lines
convection
convection currents
convergent
boundary
creep
crust
density
divergent boundary
earthquakes
elevation
fault
geoscience
inner core
lithosphere
magnetic north pole
magnetic stripes
mantle
mass movement
mudflow
outer core
plates
Richter Scale
ridge
rift valley
sea floor spreading
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floor spreading, and subduction
zones are evidence for the theory
of plate tectonics.
Explain how weathering and
erosion have changed the Earth’s
surface slowly over a long period of
time.
Identify land features on a
topographic map.
Use a topographic map to explore
catastrophic changes to the Earth’s
surface.
Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
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moraines, and rock structures, to the theory of plate tectonics.
Create explanations for the evidence of plate tectonics that includes
our current understanding of the Earth’s interior
Investigate the role of gravity in erosion; especially as related to
mass movement of rock/soil (such as mudflows, landslides/rock
slides, slump, creep)
Investigate the effects of glacial erosion and deposits; especially as
related to the formation Green Pond Lake and deposits of green
pond conglomerate. (Optional: Great Lakes)
Describe elevation and features of Rockaway Township using
topographic maps.
Analyze topographic maps for Mt St Helen’s.
Topographic Map Activity: Create a topographic map from a 3
dimensional landform.
Optional: Web Quest: The Fossils of Antarctica (Time: 1 class period for
Internet research and answering the set of questions) Your job in this
Web Quest is to discover what fossils have been found in Antarctica, and
to identify how those fossils either support or disprove Wegener’s
hypothesis and the theory of plate tectonics. You will have to find out
what kinds of fossils have been found in Antarctica. You will have to
discover how to interpret the meaning of these fossils as indicators of
the climate that once prevailed in Antarctica. Finally, you will answer a
set of questions about the fossils of Antarctica to demonstrate what you
have learned.
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/webquest/content/fossils.shtml
Web Quest: Volcanoes and the Ring of Fire (Time: 1 class Period for
research and completion of the table and map) Your job in this Web
Quest is to explore the active volcanoes of the world and discover how
these volcanoes are related. In order to do this, you first will have to
learn a little about plate tectonics, and about what happens when plates
collide on Earth’s surface. You will learn about three different types of
plate boundaries, and what kinds of volcanic activities are associated
with each type. You will describe the plate boundaries located along the
edges of the Pacific Ocean and identify an area known as the ring of fire.
Then you will list information in a table on at least five active volcanoes
from the ring of fire. Finally, you will draw a simple map of the ring of
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scale models
seismic waves
seismograph
shadow zones
slump
subduction
survey
topography
transform boundary
trench
volcanic mountain
range
Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
fire area and identify each of the volcanoes in your table on the map.
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/webquest/content/volcanoes.shtml
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Optional: Musical Plates: A Study of earthquakes and Plate Tectonics
(grades 6-12) http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/musicalplates/
Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
Resource Materials:
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Glencoe RED – Chapter 10, Forces Shaping the Earth
Glencoe RED – Chapter 11, Weathering and Erosion (Section
1- all except classifying/analyzing soil types; Section 2 - all)
Delta Kit - Earth Processes
Prentice Hall Earth Science text
(Chapter 1- Mapping Earth’s Surface)
(Unit 2, Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes and Volcanoes)
(Unit 3 – Weathering, Erosion and Deposition, A Trip Through
Geologic Time)
A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas - available Professional
Book with EXCELLENT background information (download
free from MyNAP: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13165/aframework-for-k-12-science-education-practices-crosscuttingconcepts )
Classroom Posters - Earth structure, Plate Boundary Map,
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Sea floor map
Volcanoes DVD
Seismograph Kit
Interactive Earth Science websites – Pangaea, Plate Tectonics,
Earthquakes, Ring of Fire, Topography,
Teacher-made PowerPoint presentations
USGS Website
http://topomaps.usgs.gov/
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Earthquake Laser Disk (NOTE: There are fewer functioning
laser disc players in our district)
Assessments:
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Organized Science Notebooks/ Science Journals
Daily and Graded Homework Assignments
Lab Investigations (controlled variables)
Teacher observation, checklists, rubrics
Student assessment rubrics (self checking / student created / teacher
created)
Lab group assessments (student created / teacher created, student peerto-peer feedback)
Projects / STEM Activity as determined by grade level
Project – Straw Skyscraper Structure – tested on Earthquake Shake table
(located in room 216) in conjunction with Force Unit
Exit Tickets
Quizzes
Tests
Benchmark Assessment ( for SGO, as determined by grade level)
Science and Engineering Practices :
Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
Developing and Using Models
Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena
and design systems.
• Develop and use a model to describe phenomena. (MS-ESS2-1),(MS-ESS2-6)
• Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms. (MS-ESS2-4)
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Planning and carrying out investigations in 6-8 builds on K-5 experiences and progresses to include investigations that use multiple variables and provide
evidence to support explanations or solutions.
• Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions. (MSESS2-5)
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and
causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.
• Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena. (MS-ESS2-3)
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing
solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
• Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the
assumption that theories and laws that describe nature operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (MS-ESS2-2)
Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
Cross Cutting:
Patterns
Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural systems. (MS-ESS2-3)
Cause and Effect
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Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. (MS-ESS2-5)
Scale Proportion and Quantity
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Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small. (MS-ESS2-2)
Systems and System Models
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Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions—such as inputs, processes and outputs—and energy, matter, and information flows
within systems. (MS-ESS2-6)
Energy and Matter
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Within a natural or designed system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter. (MS-ESS2-4)
Stability and Change
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Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and processes at different
scales, including the atomic scale. (MS-ESS2-1)
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Rockaway Township Public Schools
Science Unit Guide
Earth Science – Grade 7
History of Earth - Plate Tectonics
Common Core State Standard Connections:
ELA/Literacy
Common Core State Standard Connections:
Mathematics
RST.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science
and technical texts. (MS-ESS2-2),(MS-ESS2-3),(MS-ESS2-5)
MP.2
Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (MS-ESS2-2),(MS-ESS23),(MS-ESS2-5)
RST.6-8.7
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in
words in a text with a version of that information expressed
visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or
table). (MS-ESS2-3)
6.NS.C.5
RST.6-8.9
Compare and contrast the information gained from
experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with
that gained from reading a text on the same topic. (MS-ESS23),(MS-ESS2-5)
Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together
to describe quantities having opposite directions or values (e.g.,
temperature above/below zero, elevation above/below sea level,
credits/debits, positive/negative electric charge); use positive and
negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts,
explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation.(MS-ESS2-5)
6.EE.B.6
Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when
solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a
variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the
purpose at hand, any number in a specified set. (MS-ESS2-2),(MSESS2-3)
7.EE.B.4
Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or
mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and
inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the
quantities. (MS-ESS2-2),(MS-ESS2-3)
WHST.68.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and
convey ideas, concepts, and information through the
selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. (MSESS2-2)
WHST.68.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital
sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility
and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the
data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and
following a standard format for citation. (MS-ESS2-5)
SL.8.5
Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to
clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add
interest. (MS-ESS2-1),(MS-ESS2-2),(MS-ESS2-6)