Download Plate Boundaries

Title: Plate Boundaries
Author: Ashley Packard
Subject Area(s): Earth science, General science
Grade(s): 5-8
Description of Lesson: Students will learn about the areas where the lithospheric plates interact on the Earth.
These plate boundaries cause earthquakes, mountain formation, volcanoes, trench formation, islands to form,
and rifts to form. The goal of this lesson is to learn about the different plate boundaries: divergent, convergent,
and transform. For each type of plate boundary, students will learn what type of motion occurs, what landforms
are formed, and what happens to the crust.
Length of Lesson: 1-2 class periods
Student Objectives: Students will be able to:
 Describe divergent plate boundaries based on movement of the plates, landforms formed, and what
happens to the crust.
 Describe convergent plate boundaries based on movement of the plates, landforms formed, and what
happens to the crust.
 Describe transform plate boundaries based on movement of the plates, landforms formed, and what
happens to the crust.
Materials: teacher laptop, LCD projector, student laptops with Internet access, copy of Plate Tectonic Matrix
for each student, copy of Plate Tectonics Lab Activity for each student,
For each student or pair of students:
2 whole graham crackers
wax paper
1 rice krispy treat
frosting
Cup of water
plastic knife
Procedure:
1. Begin class with a video clip reviewing the layers of the earth (1:29)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukqe_6L9V54
2. Next, show a video clip to review convection currents (0:33)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xWWowXtuvA
3. Finally, show a video clip reviewing how convection currents relate to plate tectonics (1:06)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpoko_l34ZE
4. Each student should have a laptop or a computer (in a computer lab) to use. Students will go to the
website http://www.earth4567.com/talks/plates.html and open “Plate Tectonics PowerPoint.”
a. Additional resources: lecture notes that go along with the PowerPoint; 2 Exercises/activities that
could also be used
5. Each student will be given a copy of the Plate Tectonic Matrix to fill out.
6. Students will work through the PowerPoint and record information on their Plate Tectonic Matrix.
Students will be graded on the accuracy and completeness of their matrix.
7. When finished with the matrix, students will watch the video clip “Plate Boundary Overview” (4:51) to
try to tie together all of what they have learned so far in this unit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifke1GsjNN0
8. Activity: Pass out copies of Plate Tectonics Lab Activity.
http://www.chathamcentralschools.com/hs/academic_dept/Science/Schaefer/graham%20cracker%20plat
e%20tectonics%20lab%20activity.pdf
9. Pass out lab activities. Each student or pair of students will need: 2 whole graham crackers, wax paper, 1
rice krispy treat, frosting, cup of water, plastic knife
10. I would recommend going through the activity as a class, so the students do not rush through it just to
eat the lab materials. Each student would be working on the activity, but the teacher would be going
through the instructions with them step-by-step. Depending on the class, it can also be done individually
or in pairs self-paced. Students will follow directions and answer questions on the “Plate Tectonics Lab
Activity” sheet. Students can go back to their Plate Tectonic Matrix to help them answer the questions.
11. Students will turn in their Plate Tectonics Lab Activity sheet and their Plate Tectonic Matrix for a grade.
They will clean up their work area.
Scientific Explanation:
Please look at attached Plate Tectonics Matrix. It includes the Teacher Copy of the matrix.
“The main force that shapes our planet's surface over long amounts of time is the movement of Earth's outer
layer by the process of plate tectonics. The rigid outer layer of the Earth, called the lithosphere, is made of
plates that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. These plates are made of rock, but the rock is, in general,
lightweight compared with the denser, fluid layer underneath. This allows the plates to "float" on top of the
denser material. The fluid dense material is called asthenosphere and in this activity it is represented by the
frosting. However, plates are not all the same. Plates made of continental crust are thicker but less dense than
plates made of ocean crust, which are denser but thinner. In this activity, ocean plates are represented by fruit
roll ups and continental crust is represented by graham crackers.
Movements deep within the Earth, which carry heat from the hot interior to the cooler surface, cause the plates
to move very slowly on the surface, about 2 inches per year on average. There are several different hypotheses
to explain exactly how these motions allow plates to move.
Interesting things happen at the edges of plates. At divergent plate boundaries, rift valleys and spreading ridges
form as plates pull away from each other. At convergent plate boundaries, where plates are coming together,
subduction zones form when an oceanic plate and a continental plate collide and mountains build when two
continental plates collide. Large faults form when plates slide past each other making the Earth tremble with
earthquakes.”
http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/teach_snacktectonics.html&edu=high
Assessment: 1. Student answers on the Plate Tectonics Matrix will be assesses using this three-point rubric:



For a score of 3: Students must answer all parts of their Plate Tectonic Matrix accurately and
thoroughly; diagrams must accurately demonstrate how the plates are moving for each plate boundary
type and be labeled according to directions.
For a score of 2: Students must attempt to answer all parts of their Plate Tectonic Matrix with minor
misunderstandings; diagrams are complete with minor errors.
For a score of 1: Students did not attempt to answer all parts of their Plate Tectonic Matrix, and some
answers show major misunderstandings or are not complete; students did not follow directions to label
diagrams.
2. Students will be graded on the accuracy and completeness of the answers to the Plate Tectonics Lab Activity.
http://www.chathamcentralschools.com/hs/academic_dept/Science/Schaefer/graham%20cracker%20plat
e%20tectonics%20lab%20activity.pdf
Missouri and Kansas Standards Addressed:
Kansas Science Standards:
Standard 4, Benchmark 1: The student will understand that the structure of the earth system is
continuously changing due to earth's physical and chemical processes. Grades 5-7 Indicator 2.
Standard 4, Benchmark 2: The student will understand past and present earth processes and their
similarity. Grades 5-7 Indicator 1.
Missouri Science Standards (GLE’s):
Strand 5.2, Concept B. There are internal processes and sources of energy within the geosphere that
cause changes in Earth‘s crustal plates. Scope and Sequence a, b, c.
Strand 5.2, Concept C. Continual changes in the Earth’s materials and surface that result
from internal and external processes is described by the rock cycle.