Download INTRODUCTION

SCIENCE
ETO
SUCCESS ACADEMY
DATE:____________
Preparing ___________________________ to be a Sensational Scientist.
(Name)
Topic: Plate Tectonics
Pre-assessment
1. Earth’s mantle plays an important role in plate tectonics. Why is the mantle so
important to this process?
A. Earthquakes occur constantly in the mantle, which causes the plates to move.
B. The mantle is made up entirely of liquid rock, on which Earth’s crustal
plates can float.
C. Heavy metals in the mantle set up strong magnetic fields that attract and
repel Earth’s plates.
D. Temperature differences in the mantle set up convection currents that help to
drive the movement of the plates.
2. Two tectonic plates collide and one sinks beneath the other. What do you predict
will form?
A. volcanoes
B. hurricanes
C. abyssal plains
D. mid-ocean ridges
Student Exploration: Dance of the Plates
Overview
In this Exploration you will discover how the tectonic plates that make
up the Earth's outer layer interact at their boundaries.
Questions
1. What are plates?
2. What combination of boundary type and crust type creates enormous mountains?
3. How did the San Andreas fault system form?
4. What landform is created when convergent plates met along oceanic crusts?
How to Use This Exploration
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Read the Introduction and click the Continue button.
Identify the Exploration components.
Select the Type of Boundary and the Crust Type and press the Play button.
Read the text as you watch the animation. Fill out the Data Chart below. Press Replay
as necessary.
Continue with all combinations.
Extension: Student Exploration: Plate Tectonics
Vocabulary: collisional boundary, convergent boundary, crust, divergent boundary, earthquake,
lithosphere, mantle, plate, plate tectonics, transform boundary, volcano
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Volcanoes are openings in Earth’s crust where lava, gas, and ash can erupt. Where are
active volcanoes located?
____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. An earthquake is a violent shaking of Earth’s surface. Where are earthquakes common?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Gizmo Warm-up
Volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains, and other features of Earth’s surface owe their origin to the
movements of plates: enormous, slowly-moving sections of Earth’s crust. At plate boundaries,
plates collide, move apart, move under or over each other, or slide past one another. The theory
of plate tectonics describes how the plates move, interact, and change the physical landscape.
The Plate Tectonics Gizmo™ shows a cross-section, or side view, of Earth. (Not to scale.)
Above the cross section is a bird’s-eye view of the same location.
3. Turn on Show labels. What are the layers of Earth that you can see? _________________
_________________________________________________________________________
4. Turn on Boundary name, and click on each boundary. What four boundaries do you see?
_________________________________________________________________________
Activity A:
Sliding plates
Get the Gizmo ready:
 Select BOUNDARY A.
Question: What happens when plates slide past one another?
1. Observe: Boundary A is a transform boundary. The arrows below the BOUNDARY A label
will move the plates. Click the left arrow once to see how the plate moves.
How would you describe the motion of plates in a transform boundary? ________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. Sketch: Draw a bird’s-eye view of the plate boundary before and after the plate motion.
Draw an arrow to show which way the plate moved.
Before movement
After movement
3. Locate: Turn on Show location. Where on Earth can you find this type of boundary? (Note:
You can refer to a world map or atlas for location names.)
_________________________________________________________________________
Highlight these locations on the map below.
Activity B:
Colliding
continents
Get the Gizmo ready:
 Turn off Boundary name and Show location.
 Select BOUNDARY B.
Question: What happens when two continents collide?
1. Observe: Boundary B is a collisional boundary. Click the left arrow four times to see how
the plate moves.
How would you describe the motion of plates in a collisional boundary? ________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. Sketch: Draw a side view of the plate boundary before and after the plate motion. Draw an
arrow to show which way the plate moved.
Before movement
After movement
3. Locate: Turn on Show location. Where on Earth can you find this type of boundary? (Note:
You can refer to a world map or atlas for location names.)
_________________________________________________________________________
Highlight these locations on the map below.
Activity C:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Oceanic crust
meets continental
crust
 Turn off Boundary name and Show location.
 Select BOUNDARY C.
Question: What happens when ocean crust collides with continental crust?
1. Observe: Boundary C is a convergent boundary. Click the left arrow four times to see how
the plate moves.
How would you describe the motion of plates in a convergent boundary? _______________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. Sketch: Draw a side view of the plate boundary before and after the plate motion. Draw an
arrow to show which way the plate moved.
Before movement
After movement
3. Locate: Turn on Show location. Where on Earth can you find this type of boundary? (Note:
You can refer to a world map or atlas for location names.)
_________________________________________________________________________
Highlight these locations on the map below.
Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity D:
Spreading plates
 Turn off Boundary name and Show location.
 Select BOUNDARY D.
Question: How is new crust formed?
1. Observe: Boundary D is a divergent boundary. Click the right arrow four times to see how
the plate moves.
How would you describe the motion of plates in a divergent boundary? ________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. Sketch: Draw a side view of the plate boundary before and after the plate motion. Draw an
arrow to show which way the plate moved.
Before movement
After movement
3. Locate: Turn on Show location. Where on Earth can you find this type of boundary? (Note:
You can refer to a world map or atlas for location names.)
_________________________________________________________________________
Highlight these locations on the map below.
Post-Assessment
1. The diagram below shows a cross-section of the lithosphere. Point C represents a
boundary between two tectonic plates. The plates shifted in opposite directions.
CROSS-SECTION OF LITHOSPHERE
What occurred at Point A as a result of this movement?
A. a release of energy that caused an earthquake
B. the formation of a tsunami, or underwater seismic wave
C. the formation of a hot spot
D. the sinking of one plate under another
2. A region known as the Ring of Fire follows the border of the Pacific Ocean basin. Why
do so many earthquakes and volcanoes occur in this region?
A. Tidal action around the Pacific Ocean is very strong.
B. Two plates are diverging in the Pacific Ocean basin.
C. It is a region of numerous tectonic plate boundaries.
D. Many transform boundaries are located around the basin.
The movement of tectonic plates can produce landforms on Earth’s surface. Along what
type of plate boundary might a mountain range form?
A. convergent
B. divergent
C. fault
D. transform
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