Download Lesson: Design and Build a Dual Purpose Tool

Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education
Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Worcester Public Schools
Supported by: National Science Foundation
Understanding the Earth: 6.B.3
The Earth is a Plateful
Grade Level
Sessions
Seasonality
Instructional Mode(s)
Team Size
WPS Benchmarks
MA Frameworks
Key Words
6
1 – approximately 45 minutes
N/A
Whole class
N/A
06.SC.ES.03
6-8.ES.2
Pangaea, Theory of Continental Drift, Theory of Plate Tectonics, lithosphere,
ridge, trench, fault
Summary
Students will play a game that introduces to them the Plate Tectonics Theory and how
tectonic activities of one plate can affect the whole world.
Learning Objectives
2002 Worcester Public Schools (WPS) Benchmarks for Grade 6
06.SC.ES.03 Describe the layers of the solid earth, including the lithosphere, the hot
convecting mantle, and the dense metallic core.
Additional Learning Objectives
1. 6-8.ES.2 Describe the layers of the solid earth, including the lithosphere, the hot
convecting mantle, and the dense metallic core.
2. To teach the students about how plate tectonics affect the earth.
Required Background Knowledge
None
Essential Questions
1. How are the plates moving?
2. What is the theory called that predicts this event?
3. How do plate tectonics affect our life and history?
1
Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education
Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Worcester Public Schools
Supported by: National Science Foundation
Introduction / Motivation
Students will be introduced to plate tectonics using the material in the Lesson
Background.
Procedure
Activity 1: Movement of the plates (See Different Plate Movements)
1. Have the students put two books/binders side by side on the table.
2. Discuss the divergent plate boundary movement.
3. Have the students mimic the divergent plate boundary movement by moving their
books/binders apart in opposite direction.
4. Discuss the formation of ridges by this plate tectonic movement.
5. Discuss the convergent plate boundary movement.
6. Have the students mimic the convergent plate boundary movement by moving
their books/binders together.
7. Show the students that this type of movement can form a mountain or trench.
8. Discuss the transform plate boundary movement.
9. Have the students mimic the transform plate boundary movement by grinding
their books/binders in opposite direction.
10. Discuss the formation of faults.
Activity 2: The Human Plate Tectonics Statue (From The Layered Earth, a website of
Montana State University)
1. Each student represents a plate of the earth's crust. One by one, students begin
to make a "plate statue" by freezing in a position at a designated spot in the
room. They are to stand very close to each other, but not touching.
2. Once the entire class has formed the plate-statue, give directions for students to
move slightly but without touching anyone else.
3. Now have all the students touch hands with another plate (student) and bump
softly.
4. Discuss how this is related to the movements described in the earlier activity.
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Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education
Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Worcester Public Schools
Supported by: National Science Foundation
5. Have all of the students connect their hands and let one or the more of them
make waves. Notice that some waves are smaller and some are larger, but all
are connected together.
6. Explain to the students that earthquakes are just like making the waves, one
starts and it goes around. And if there are more waves, they interact with each
other too.
Materials List
Activity 1: Movement of the plates
Materials per class
Books/binders
Amount
2 or more
Materials per student
N/A
Location
Classroom
Amount
Location
N/A
N/A
Vocabulary with Definitions
None
Assessment / Evaluation of Students
End of class discussion.
Lesson Extensions
The instructor might use this lesson as an introduction to the other lessons in this unit.
Going over the Velocity of the Tectonic Plates of the Earth and The Tectonic Plates
of the World with the class.
Attachments
1. Lesson Background
2. Different Plate Movements
3. Velocity of the Tectonic Plates of the Earth
4. The Tectonic Plates of the World
Troubleshooting Tips
None
3
Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education
Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Worcester Public Schools
Supported by: National Science Foundation
Safety Issues
None
Additional Resources
http://science.howstuffworks.com/volcano.htm
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/plate_tectonics/introduction.html
http://www.math.montana.edu/~nmp/materials/ess/geosphere/novice/activities/planet_e
arth/
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/understanding.html
Key Words
Pangaea, Theory of Continental Drift, Theory of Plate Tectonics, lithosphere, ridge,
trench, fault
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Lesson Background
¾ The backbone of the Plate Tectonics Theory was first presented by Alfred Wegener,
a German meteorologist in 1912 as the Continental Drift Theory.
• Earth was once (200 million years ago) made up of a ‘supercontinent’, called the
Pangaea which broke up over time and moved to form their present day locations
and forms.
• His evidences include: the matching shapes of some of the continents; the
fossilized records of same species of organism along the borders of different
continents; similar ancient climate on different continents; the moving magnetic
poles of the Earth; and similar sequence of layers of rocks in different regions.
• He proposed that the split up of the Pangaea was caused by the Earth’s rotation
on its own axis.
• His hypothesis was not accepted until the 1960’s.
¾ In the mid 1960’s, the new theory of Plate Tectonics was born.
o The plates are actually broken pieces of the Earth’s lithosphere, which
consists of the crust and the harder part of the mantle. It can be about 2 km
to 130 km for oceanic plates and about 300 km thick for continental plates.
o The plates (lithosphere) are on top of the asthenosphere layer, which is the
softer, liquid-like part of the mantle.
o The plates are moved by thermal convection currents of the circulation of
magma in the asthenosphere. Much like how hot water rises up and cooler
water sinks down in a bathtub.
o It is proposed that there are 12 plates in the present day, which include some
oceanic and some continental.
¾ There are three types of movements for the plates, described by the motion of the
boundaries of the plates
o Divergent plate boundary
ƒ Two plates move away from each other; the liquid mantle from the
asthenosphere moves up to form a new crust at the surface.
ƒ This process forms ridges in land or under the sea, which are
exceptionally high areas. Example: Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
o Convergent plate boundary
ƒ Two plates move together, and one is pushed down under the other,
which is called subduction.
ƒ This process forms trenches, which are deep areas in land or at the
sea. Example: The Mariana trench in the Pacific Ocean near Japan,
which is the deepest point in the Earth.
ƒ This process may also form mountains. Example: The Himalayan
Mountain Range in China.
o Transform plate boundary
ƒ Two plates sliding past each other horizontally in different directions.
ƒ This process forms faults. Example: San Andreas Fault in California.
¾ The movements of the plates are the causes for earthquakes and also volcanic
eruptions.
Different Plate Movements
Pictures from: http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/plate_tectonics/part13.html
Velocity of the Tectonic Plates of the Earth
The arrows represent the direction and speed that the plates are moving. Notice, the
boundaries of the plates are where volcanoes form and earthquakes occur usually.
The Tectonic Plates of the World
(From the website of USGS, Image URL: http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/graphics/Fig1.gif)