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The plate
tectonic story
Earth science
for KS3 geography
Earth Science Education Unit
www.earthscienceeducation.com
© The Earth Science Education Unit
Copyright is waived for original material contained herein if it is required for use within the
laboratory or classroom. Copyright material included from other publishers rests with them.
www.earthscienceeducation.com
New cover to be added
here
The plate
tectonic story
Earth science for
KS3 geography
The plate tectonic story
Summary
‘The plate tectonic story’ workshop gets to grips with the wideranging evidence for the theory that underpins our detailed modern
understanding of our dynamic planet – the theory of Plate
Tectonics.
The workshop begins with an introduction and progresses through
a series of activities that are designed to help students develop
their understanding. It uses several independent sources of
evidence supporting the theory, including using rock and fossil
evidence, seismic records, geothermal patterns, geomagnetism,
and large-scale topographical features, both above and below sealevel.
The workshop provides a reconstruction of plate movements over
the past 450 million years which explains the record contained in
the rocks of the UK - of an amazing journey across the face of our
planet. It concludes by investigating some of the Earth hazards
linked to plate tectonics, and how we can reduce loss of life.
The plate tectonic story
Workshop outcomes
The workshop and its activities provide the following outcomes:
• an introduction to plate tectonics;
• distinction between the ‘facts’ of plate tectonics and the evidence used to
support plate tectonic theory;
• a survey of some of the evidence supporting plate tectonic theory;
• explanation of some of the hazards caused by plate tectonic processes earthquakes and eruptions
• methods of teaching the abstract concepts of plate tectonics, using a wide
range of teaching approaches, including practical and electronic simulations;
• approaches to activities designed to develop the thinking and investigational
skills of students;
• an integrated overview of the concepts involved in teaching the processes of
plate tectonics, as described in the KS3 geography curriculum.
The plate tectonic story
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Think through the processes using this wide range of activities:
Note: those practical activities needing apparatus/materials are shown with a *
The big picture and the ‘facts’ of plate • Faults in a Mars™ Bar*
tectonics
• The magnetic stripes evidence*
Geobattleships*
• Destructive plate margins - recycling
The earthquake distribution evidence
material
Why are the Earth’s tectonic plates
• Plates in Motion – cardboard replica*
called plates?*
• Fold Mountains in a Chocolate Box*
The seismic evidence for the structure • Continental jigsaws*
of the Earth
• Plate Animation – Britain’s journey
Properties of the Mantle – potty putty™* • What is the speed of a plate?
Push, pull or drag – simulating solid
• Plate Riding – how is the plate you live
convection
on moving now?
From Magnetic Globe to Magnetic Rock • Brickquake – can earthquakes be
Evidence*
predicted?*
The heat flow evidence
• How Predictable are Volcanic
Evidence from the age of the sea floor
Eruptions? – party popper simulation*
Constructive plate margins - adding new
plate material
The plate tectonic story
Carry out risk assessments before the following activities:
Model Earth - PlasticineTM spheres
Magnetic stripes
‘Brickquake’ – can earthquakes be predicted?
How predictable are volcanic eruptions? - party popper simulation
The plate tectonic story
The big picture
and the ‘facts’ of plate tectonics
The plate tectonic story
The Earth has a crust, mantle, outer and inner core
Crust
Mantle
Outer core
Inner core
The plate tectonic story
The upper part of the mantle and the crust
Over geological time the mantle can flow
Replace
The plate tectonic story
A subduction zone
When one plate goes down it partially melts and volcanoes are produced
The plate tectonic story
A subduction zone
Sometimes the molten rock cools down below the surface
The plate tectonic story
A subduction zone
When two plates carrying continents collide – mountain chains are built
The plate tectonic story
An oceanic ridge
If plates are being destroyed, new plate material must be being made
somewhere else … at new plate margins
The plate tectonic story
Map of plates
The result is - the map of plate margins today
The plate tectonic story
● So – that is the ‘big picture’ of plate tectonics
● But plate tectonics is not a series of facts, as
suggested in the story above, but is a theory
supported by evidence
● But what is this evidence and how does it support
the theory?
Note: The theory of plate tectonics is outlined in narrative form
as the ‘Story for teachers: plate tectonics’ on an early
page of the ‘The plate tectonic story’ booklet.
The plate tectonic story
Where on Earth are earthquakes and volcanoes?
- Geobattleships
The plate tectonic story
Where on Earth are earthquakes and volcanoes?
- Geobattleships
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
The plate tectonic story
Distribution of earthquakes – what does the distribution show?
The plate tectonic story
Distribution of earthquakes – what does the distribution show?
Plate margins – shown by
earthquake distributions
Plate
shapes
Deep focus earthquakes =
subduction
Shallow focus earthquakes
only = constructive margins
The plate tectonic story
Why are the Earth’s tectonic plates called plates?
The plate tectonic story
The seismic evidence for
the structure of the Earth
The plate tectonic story
Velocities of P and S waves as they travel into the Earth
The plate tectonic story
The structure of the Earth – from the seismic evidence
crust average 15 km thick
The plate tectonic story
The lithosphere, asthenosphere and below:
Note 1. The crust has a mean thickness of 35 km beneath continents and 6 km
beneath oceans giving an overall mean of about 15 km.
Note 2. The crust is too thin to form plates – plates are made of rigid lithosphere –
around 100 km in thickness
The plate tectonic story
Modelling the lithosphere and asthenosphere (?)
The plate tectonic story
Modelling the lithosphere and asthenosphere (?)
The crust – trainers
The extreme upper
mantle – skate board
The asthenosphere wheels
The asthenosphere (wheels) flows, carrying the plate of lithosphere =
trainers (crust) + extreme upper mantle (skateboard) along
The plate tectonic story
Properties of the mantle – Potty Putty™
Showing how the solid mantle can flow
The plate tectonic story
Modelling the mantle
The plate tectonic story
What drives the plates?
The plate tectonic story
What drives the plates?
The plate tectonic story
What drives the plates?
The plate tectonic story
The magnetic evidence
From magnetic globe to magnetic rock evidence
The plate tectonic story
Model magnetic Earth
The plate tectonic story
Preserving remanent magnetisation
The plate tectonic story
The heat flow evidence
The pattern of heat flow from the Earth
Replace
The plate tectonic story
The pattern of heat flow from the Earth
High heat flow – from
rising current at ridge
Heat flow reducing
as plate cools
Replace
Lowest heat
flow at trench
High heat flow
from volcanicity
The plate tectonic story
The age of the ocean floor evidence:
ocean floors are young where new plate is
being formed, becoming older outwards
The plate tectonic story
Evidence from the age of the sea floor
Photograph of 'The Geological Map of the World’. © Open University
Age of the sea floor – youngest = dark yellow, oldest = pale green
The plate tectonic story
Constructive plate margins adding new plate material
The plate tectonic story
Activity at an oceanic ridge – a constructive plate margin
The plate tectonic story
Mid-Atlantic ridge
http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/world-ocean-bathymetric-map
(Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal)
The plate tectonic story
Black smoker activity
The plate tectonic story
Icelandic-type eruption
The plate tectonic story
Ancient pillow lavas
The plate tectonic story
Faults in a Mars™ bar
Modelling a constructive plate margin
The plate tectonic story
Faults in a Mars™ bar
The plate tectonic story
Faults in a Mars™ bar
central ‘rift valley'
rigid ‘lithosphere’ moving left
rigid ‘lithosphere’ moving right
ductile
flowing
‘asthenosphere'
solid
‘mantle'
The plate tectonic story
The magnetic stripes evidence
Research ship used to tow magnetometer
The plate tectonic story
The equipment used
The plate tectonic story
The plate tectonic story
The plate tectonic story
Destructive plate margins - recycling material
The plate tectonic story
Destructive plate margins - recycling material
Ocean v ocean
destructive plate margin
– one oceanic plate
subducted beneath another
Ocean v continent
destructive plate margin
– an oceanic plate
subducted beneath a
continental plate
Continent v continent
destructive plate margin
– two continental plates
colliding
The plate tectonic story
Ocean-ocean convergence
The plate tectonic story
Destructive plate margins:
where plate material is recycled
A satellite view of the Aleutian Islands, Pacific Ocean
The plate tectonic story
Island arc volcanism
Zavodovski Island, South Sandwich Island, South Atlantic
The plate tectonic story
Ocean-continent convergence
The plate tectonic story
Ocean-continent convergence:
Mount St Helens
The plate tectonic story
Continent-continent convergence
The plate tectonic story
Plates in motion – cardboard replica
A working model of how colliding continents
produce mountain chains
The Tibetan Plateau, Himalayas
The plate tectonic story
Continent-continent convergence
The rapid northward drift of the Indian
plate (at 15-40cm per year) produced
the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau
when it collided with the Eurasian plate.
Folds at Lhotse (Himalayas)
The plate tectonic story
Plates in motion:
cardboard replica plates in motion
The plate tectonic story
Plates in motion:
cardboard replica plates in motion
The plate tectonic story
Plates in motion:
cardboard replica plates in motion
The plate tectonic story
Fold mountains in a chocolate box
The plate tectonic story
Fold mountains in a chocolate box
Note: This activity forms part of the ‘Dynamic Rock Cycle’ ESEU workshop
The plate tectonic story
Fold mountains in a chocolate box
Note: This activity forms part of the ‘Dynamic Rock Cycle’ ESEU workshop
The plate tectonic story
Fold mountains in a chocolate box
The ‘squeezebox’ set up for tensional forces
The plate tectonic story
Continental jigsaws - the ‘matching’ evidence
The plate tectonic story
The continental jigsaw (the outlines of the Gondwana continents)
The plate tectonic story
The continental jigsaw (continental shelf match at 1000m depth below sea level)
The plate tectonic story
The continental jigsaw (former distribution of ice across the Gondwana continents)
The plate tectonic story
The continental jigsaw
The distribution of ancient rocks
across South America and Africa
The distribution of younger rocks
across South America and Africa up to
the beginning of the continental split
The plate tectonic story
The continental jigsaw (distribution of land/freshwater animals and plants
in the continents of ‘Gondwanaland’)
The plate tectonic story
Plate animation - Britain’s journey
The plate tectonic story
Map of plates
The plate tectonic story
What is the speed of a plate?
The plate tectonic story
What am I doing?
Published by Jim Henderson under the
Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public
Domain Dedication as File:30th St hiline
balancing on rails jeh.jpg
The plate tectonic story
Plate-riding
The plate tectonic story
Plate-riding
‘How fast am I going?’
‘What is happening in front
of me?’
‘In which direction am
I travelling?’
‘What is happening
behind me?’
‘How can I tell I’m moving?’
The plate tectonic story
Plate-riding
‘How fast am I going?’
(as fast as our
fingernails grow);
‘In which direction am
I travelling?’
(towards the East);
‘What is happening
behind me?’
(new plate material is
being formed, as in
Iceland);
‘What is happening in front
of me?’
(I’m heading towards the
Japanese subduction zone,
with its earthquakes,
volcanoes and mountains);
‘How can I tell I’m moving?’
(GPS measurements over
several years, magnetic
stripe evidence; evidence
from the age of ocean floor
sediments.)
The plate tectonic story
Brickquake – can earthquakes be predicted?
How earthquakes work –
and how difficult they are to predict
The plate tectonic story
Brickquake – can earthquakes be predicted?
How earthquakes work –
and how difficult they are to predict
The plate tectonic story
‘Brickquake’ – can
earthquakes be
predicted?
‘Brickquake’ results
Distance moved
(cm)
Force
(Newtons)
Relative energy
released
2
15
30
7.5
45
337.5
3.5
35
122.5
4
25
100
The plate tectonic story
How predictable are volcanic eruptions?
– party popper simulation
The plate tectonic story
Copyright
Needs checking: - add two photos by David Bailey of Slab drag and photo of person balancing for ‘plate surfing’
‘Brickquake’ © ESEU
Set up for the party popper activity © Peter Kennett
Mid ocean ridge © Press & Siever, redrawn by ESEU
Ocean-ocean convergence (subduction zone) - reproduced with kind permission of U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS), redrawn by ESEU
The Internal structure of the Earth - reproduced with kind permission of USGS, redrawn by ESEU
The upper part of the mantle and the crust © Chris King and Dee Edwards, redrawn by ESEU
Molten rocks cools down below the surface - reproduced with kind permission of USGS, redrawn by ESEU
Two plates carrying continents collide - reproduced with kind permission of USGS, redrawn by ESEU
Map of plates - reproduced with kind permission of USGS, redrawn by ESEU
Cover from ‘The Origin of Continents and Oceans’ © Dover Publications Inc
Similar shapes of coastline © Author/origin unknown – redraw by Peter Kennett
The Geology of the South American and African coast areas © Dover Publications Inc
Distribution of land/freshwater animals and plants in the continents of ‘Gondwanaland’ - reproduced with kind
permission of USGS
An alternative explanation of the distribution of fossil plants and animals © Continental Drift: A Study of the
Earth’s Moving Surface (1972), redrawn by ESEU © Harmondsworth: Penguin Books
Traces of the Permo-Carboniferous inland glaciation … © Dover Publications Inc
Displacement of Greenland © Dover Publications Inc
Debating the reconstruction of the super-continent of ‘Gondwanaland’ © Peter Kennett
The Continental jigsaws (the outlines of the Gondwana continents) © Author/origin unknown – redraw by Peter
Kennett
The Continental jigsaw, continental shelf © Andrew McLeish in ‘Geological Science’
The Continental jigsaws (former distribution of ice across the Gondwana continents) © Andrew McLeish in
‘Geological Science’
Distribution of ancient rocks across South America and Africa © Andrew McLeish in ‘Geological Science’
The plate tectonic story
Copyright continued…
Distribution of younger rocks across South America and Africa - source unknown, redrawn by ESEU
Petri-dish magnetic field preserved in iron filings in wax © Michèle Bourne, ESEU
Marking the points and direction of magnetism using cocktail sticks © ESEU
Model magnetic Earth (Plasticine™ sphere) © Peter Kennett
Magnetic inclination plotted against latitude (graph) © Chris King
Battleship grid - Where on Earth are earthquakes and volcanoes? © Dave Turner
Galunggung eruption by USGS – image in the public domain
Photograph, ‘North All Trucks’ © USGS
Distribution of earthquakes - source unknown, redrawn by ESEU
The Internal structure of the Earth - reproduced with kind permission of USGS, redrawn by ESEU
Graph of 'Velocities of P and S waves as they travel into the Earth © ESTA, redrawn by ESEU
The Structure of the Earth – from the seismic evidence – reproduced with kind permission of USGS, redrawn by
ESEU
The lithosphere, asthenosphere and below © ESEU
Skateboard x 2 © Peter Kennett, ESEU
Picture of a plate © Peter Kennett
Student pulling Potty Putty™ © ESEU
Photographs of Potty Putty™ x 3 © Peter Kennett
The pattern of heat flow from the Earth © Chris King & Dee Edwards, redrawn by ESEU
‘Sea bed’ by National Science Foundation – image in the public domain
The plate tectonic story
Copyright continued…
‘Ancient pillow lava’ by US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration – image in the public domain
The age of the sea floor © Dale S. Sawyer: http://plateboundary.rice.edu/home.html
‘Submarine volcano’ by US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration – image in the public domain
'Mid-Atlantic Ridge' Map © Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal, http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/world-oceanbathymetric-map
‘Black Smoker’ by US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration – image in the public domain
Black Smoker © This Dynamic Earth: the Story of Plate Tectonics, USGS
Icelandic-type eruption - reproduced with kind permission of U.S. Department of Interior, USGS
Ancient Pillow lavas © Peter Kennett
Gap between the North American and Eurasian continental plates © Randomskk
Faults in a MarsTM Bar x 2 © Peter Kennett
Research ship used to tow magnetometer © Peter Kennett
Photograph of ‘the equipment used’ to show magnetic anomalies © Peter Kennett
Magnetic anomalies over the Reykjanes Ridge © Geoscience, redrawn by ESEU
Magnetic evidence for ocean floor spreading © This Dynamic Earth: the Story of Plate Tectonics, USGS, redrawn
by ESEU
Classroom demonstration of concepts … © ESTA, redrawn by ESEU
Destructive Plate Margins – recycling material © US Geological Survey, redrawn by ESEU
The plate tectonic story
Copyright continued…
Oceanic ridge © ESTA, redrawn by ESEU
‘A satellite view of the Aleutian Islands, Pacific Ocean’ by NASA - image in the public domain
Zavadovski Island © Peter Kennett
Mount St Helens © USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory
Volcano in the lab video © Peter Kennett
‘The Tibetan Plateau, Himalayas’ by NASA – image in the public domain
Folds at Lhotse (Himalayas) by Michael Searle © University of Oxford
Eurasian Plate (India's movement) © This Dynamic Earth: the Story of Plate Tectonics, USGS, redrawn by ESEU
Continent-continent convergence, India’s movement © This Dynamic Earth: the Story of Plate Tectonics, USGS,
redrawn by ESEU
Cardboard replica of plates in motion (photograph) © ESEU
Cardboard replica of plates in motion (diagram) © ESTA, redrawn by ESEU
Fold mountains in a chocolate box x 3 © Peter Kennett
Image from Britain's Journey animation © Cambridge Paleomap Services Ltd
Map of Plates © This Dynamic Earth: the Story of Plate Tectonics, USGS, redrawn by ESEU
Photograph of 'The Geological Map of the World’ © Open University
‘Surfer’ by Agc – image in the public domain
‘Surfer’ by United States Marine Corps – image in the public domain / Image of the Earth © Noldoaran
How Predictable are Volcanic Eruptions? - party popper simulation © Peter Kennett, ESEU
The plate tectonic story
Workshop outcomes
The workshop and its activities provide the following outcomes:
• an introduction to plate tectonics;
• distinction between the ‘facts’ of plate tectonics and the evidence
used to support plate tectonic theory;
• a survey of some of the evidence supporting plate tectonic theory;
• explanation of some of the hazards caused by plate tectonic
processes - earthquakes and eruptions
• methods of teaching the abstract concepts of plate tectonics, using a
wide range of teaching approaches, including practical and electronic
simulations;
• approaches to activities designed to develop the thinking and
investigational skills of students;
• an integrated overview of the plate tectonic concepts involved in
teaching the processes of plate tectonics, as described in the KS3
geography curriculum.
The plate tectonic story
The plate
tectonic story
Earth Science
for KS3 Geography
Earth Science Education Unit
www.earthscienceeducation.com
© The Earth Science Education Unit
Copyright is waived for original material contained herein if it is required for use within the
laboratory or classroom. Copyright material included from other publishers rests with them.
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Looking east as young men
itSummary
under
other
nearby
walk the
rails on a sunny morning.
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40° 45′ 10.7″ N,
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Date
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