Download Plate Tectonics Objectives Students will be able to: understand the

Plate Tectonics
Objectives
Students will be able to:
understand the history of the theory of plate tectonics
explain and illustrate the basic concepts of plate tectonics
Materials
White board
Trace paper
Pencils
Science Journals
World Map (copied for students to cut out)
Differentiation Strategies
These strategies are used to meet the varied needs of all learners:
Visual learners:diagrams showing sea-floor spreading and plate convergence
Auditory learners:recounts the story of Wegener’s life and how he postulated his
theory of continental drift
Kinesthetic learners:create a model of Pangaea and trace diagrams showing plate
convergence
Key Vocabulary
sea-floor spreading
continental drift
plate tectonics
ocean plates
continental plates
plate convergence
plate divergence
subduction
transform vault
Procedures
Warm Up
Tell students the story of Alfred Wegener’s life. Describe the following information to
students:
how a scientific paper that uncovered fossil records of the same plants and animals on
different sides of the Atlantic sparked his theory of Pangaea and continental drift
his ideas were rejected by his colleagues
Distribute a handout with a map of the world and ask students to cut them out and
tape them together to create a Pangaea.
Ask them to share their creations. How would Pangaea have looked? Do they believe
that Pangaea existed at one time?
Direct Instruction
Tell students that the mapping of the ocean floor in the 1960s revived Wegener’s ideas
and led to the theory of continental drift.
On a white board (or chalk board), write and define the vocabulary terms: sea-floor
spreading, oceanic plates, and continental plates.
Using a projector, a handout or the white board, show an illustration of the process seafloor spreading.* Point out the ridges and the trenches in the ocean floor and ask students to
analyze the diagram and explain how they think sea-floor spreading occurs.
On a white board (or chalk board), write and define the vocabulary terms: plate
convergence, plate divergence, subduction, and transform vault.
Practice
Distribute a trace paper, pencils, and a handout illustrating the three types of
convergences: oceanic-oceanic; oceanic-continental; continental-continental. Make sure the
diagrams have arrows to illustrate the movement of the plates.
Ask students to trace the diagrams and to label them.
When they have finished, pair students and ask them to explain each of the diagrams.
Pair up ELL students with English-proficient students.
Ask pairs of students to share their explanations. Use leading questions to help
students understand the movement of the plate and the geological consequences.
Assessment
Ask students to cut and paste their diagrams into their science journals and write a
sentence or two describing each diagram.
Closure
Have students assemble or suggest objects for a shoe box containing objects in memory of
Wegener. If students do not mention them, you might suggest adding a photo of Wegener, fossils,
a compass, and an illustration of Pangaea.
Applied Learning: Have students choose among the following projects: research the origins of
well-known geological structures such as the Himalayas and the Dead Sea; research why the
scientific community initially rejected Wegener’s ideas; research developments, such as the
discovery of the mid-Atlantic ridge, that led to the acceptance of the theory.
These resources are readily available online. You may find them at these Web sites:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics.html
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/10i.html
http://www.geosociety.org/educate/LessonPlans/SeaFloorSpreading.pdf