Download Shoe Box Plate Tectonic Lab Teacher Pages

Shoe Box Plate Tectonic Lab Teacher Pages
Purpose:
Students will observe the effects of plate boundary movement.
Materials Needed Per Group:
Sand
Shoe box
Shoe box lid with slit
Markers-Red and Blue
Copy paper cut lengthwise (in half)
Scissors
Other materials
Computer and projector
Pre-Lab Preparation
1. Cut the shoebox in half for each group. Label each box half A and B. See model below.
2. Cut a slit in the shoe box so that the paper can fit in widthwise.
3. Set up shoebox and sand boxes. (Sand should cover the entire surface of the box- about .5 inch deep.
Test the setup to determine if more or less sand is needed.)
Part 1- Continental Plate Movement
Procedure
1.) Move the piece A and piece B of the shoe box together.
2.) In your journal/science notebook illustrate (draw) and describe in complete sentences what
happened when the two plates collided.
3.) Move the piece A and piece B of the shoe box apart.
4.) In your journal/science notebook illustrate (draw) and describe in complete sentences what
happened when the two plates split apart.
5.) Adjust the box pieces so that the ends are touching, and then flatten and level out your sand.
6.) Slide piece A up your desk and slide piece B down your desk simultaneously (at the same time)
7.) In your journal/science notebook illustrate (draw) and describe in complete sentences what
happened when the two plates slid on each other.
8.) Complete Identification of Plate Boundaries Activity Part A. (handout provided by teacher)
Cause and Effect Challenge (Complete the following chart in the notebook or student journal page)
Cause
Two continental plates collide
Effect
Folded mountains are formed.
Two plates slide past each other
A fault, or crack is formed
Two continental plates move away from each
other.
A rift valley is formed.
Part Two- Seafloor Spreading and the formation of ocean ridges
Procedure
1. Put the pieces of paper in the slit from the underside of the shoebox lid. Allow about 2 cm of paper to
show through the slit.
2. One piece of paper will be folded back to the left of the slit and one will be folded to the right of the
slit.
3. Use your red marker to color the paper that is showing (on both sides of the slit). Optional: Write the
year you were born on this stripe.
4. Now pull another inch or so of paper through the slit. The amount pulled through doesn't matter as
much as the fact that both sides need to pull through the same amount.
5. Now color this new strip of white paper in black marker. Optional: Write the year after you were born
on this stripe.
6. Continue to pull the paper through the slit and coloring the strips (in alternate colors), until you
almost run out of paper. You have now created a model for sea-floor spreading. Optional: Keep writing
the year on each stripe. This shows that the older stripes end up further away from the ridge and the
youngest are closest to the ridge.
Part Three- Formation of Subduction Zones- Animation
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/eoc/teachers/t_tectonics/p_subduction.html
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/plate-tectonics
Plate Movement- Seafloor spreading
1. Where can you find the landform represented by the box top and paper?
At divergent plate boundaries in the ocean.
2. Base on the model, where are the oldest rocks for ocean ridges located?
The oldest rocks are located furthest from the boundary.
3. How do the patterns on the sea-floor support plate tectonics?
The newest oceanic crust form through volcanic activity near the ridge and then gradually moves away
from the ridge.
Part Three- Subduction Zones
1. What is a subduction zone? an area or process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which
one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate and sinks into the mantle as the plates converge.
2. Why does one tectonic plate subduct? The plate that is more dense will sink. When two oceanic
crusts collide, the older plate will sink below the younger plate because it is more dense. When an
oceanic crust collides with a continental crust, the heavier, more dense oceanic crust will sink.
3. What type of plate boundary movement takes place when a subduction zone is formed? convergent
4. Complete the chart below.
Type of crust
Type of movement
Convergent
Which crust will
subduct?
the oldest crust will
subduct
Trench, volcanic island
arc
Convergent
Oceanic
Trench, volcanic arc
A. oceanic and oceanic
B. continental and
oceanic
Land Feature(s) formed
Conclusion
Complete this sentence stem in your science journal/notebook:
When
land features are formed.
Part III- Plate Tectonics Web quest Follow Up (Optional)
http://cedarvalley.roundrockisd.org/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=2983403
Student Journal Page
Part One-Plate Movement
Observations
Convergent
(Moving Together)
Divergent
(Moving Apart)
Before
Transform
(sliding past each other)
Before
Before
After
What happens when two
continental plates collide?
After
What happens when two
continental plates move
apart?
After
What happens when two
plates slide past each other?
Cause and Effect Challenge
Cause
Effect
Two continental plates collide
A fault, or crack is formed
Two continental plates move away from each
other.
Student Journal Page Part Two
Part Two- Plate Movement- Seafloor spreading
1. Where can you find the landform represented by the box top and paper?
2. Base on the model, where are the oldest rocks for ocean ridges located?
3. How do the patterns on the sea-floor support plate tectonics?
Part Three- Subduction Zones
1. What is a subduction zone?
2. Why does one tectonic plate subduct?
3. What type of plate boundary movement takes place when a subduction zone is formed?
4. Complete the chart below.
Type of crust
A. oceanic and oceanic
B. continental and
oceanic
Type of movement
Which crust will
subduct?
Land Feature(s) formed
Shoe Box Plate Tectonic Lab
Hypothesis:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Materials Needed Per Group:
Sand
Shoe box
Shoe box lid with slit
Markers-Red and Blue
Copy paper cut lengthwise (in half)
Scissors
Part 1- Continental Plate Movement
Procedure
1.) Move the piece A and piece B of the shoe box together.
2.) In your journal/science notebook illustrate (draw) and describe in complete sentences what
happened when the two plates collided.
3.) Move the piece A and piece B of the shoe box apart.
4.) In your journal/science notebook illustrate (draw) and describe in complete sentences what
happened when the two plates split apart.
5.) Adjust the box pieces so that the ends are touching, and then flatten and level out your sand.
6.) Slide piece A up your desk and slide piece B down your desk simultaneously (at the same time)
7.) In your journal/science notebook illustrate (draw) and describe in complete sentences what
happened when the two plates slid on each other.
8.) Complete Identification of Plate Boundaries Activity Part A. (handout provided by teacher)
Sample Journal Page
Convergent
(Moving Together)
Before
After
What happens when two
continental plates collide?
Divergent
(Moving Apart)
Before
Transform
(sliding past each other)
Before
After
What happens when two
continental plates move
apart?
After
What happens when two
plates slide past each
other?
Cause and Effect Challenge
Cause
Two continental plates collide
Effect
A fault, or crack is formed
Two continental plates move away from each
other.
Part Two- Seafloor Spreading and the formation of ocean ridges
Procedure
1. Put the pieces of paper in the slit from the underside of the shoebox lid. Allow about 2 cm of paper to
show through the slit.
2. One piece of paper will be folded back to the left of the slit and one will be folded to the right of the
slit.
3. Use your red marker to color the paper that is showing (on both sides of the slit). Optional: Write the
year you were born on this stripe.
4. Now pull another inch or so of paper through the slit. The amount pulled through doesn't matter as
much as the fact that both sides need to pull through the same amount.
5. Now color this new strip of white paper in black marker. Optional: Write the year after you were born
on this stripe.
6. Continue to pull the paper through the slit and coloring the strips (in alternate colors), until you
almost run out of paper. You have now created a model for sea-floor spreading. Optional: Keep writing
the year on each stripe. This shows that the older stripes end up further away from the ridge and the
youngest are closest to the ridge.
Plate Movement- Seafloor spreading
1. Where can you find the landform represented by the box top and paper?
2. Base on the model, where are the oldest rocks for ocean ridges located?
3. How do the patterns on the sea-floor support plate tectonics?
Part Three- Subduction Zones
Complete the questions below after viewing the animations provided by your teacher.
1. What is a subduction zone?
2. Why does one tectonic plate subduct?
3. What type of plate boundary movement takes place when a subduction zone is formed?
4. Complete the chart below.
Type of crust
A. oceanic and oceanic
B. continental and
oceanic
Conclusion
Type of movement
Which crust will
subduct?
Land Feature(s) formed