The Dynamic Earth: Plate Tectonic Processes

Time required to complete this unit:

This page is under development and may be edited at any time. Some resources have not been cataloged, pending project approval.
3 weeks, or 12.5 hours, or 750 minutes (estimated)

Earth Science Content:

Key Terms: Plate tectonics, geosphere, volcano, earthquake, divergent boundary, convergent boundary, transform boundary, core, mantle, crust, rift, subduction, lithosphere, asthenosphere, mid-ocean ridge, hotspot, sea-floor spreading, heat transfer, convection, mantle plume, normal fault, reverse fault, dip-slip fault, strike-slip fault, transform fault, fault plane, hanging wall, foot wall, gravity fault, epicenter seismicity, hydrothermal, caldera

Overview

Our Earth is a restless and dynamic planet. From the tallest mountain peaks of the crust to the very center of the core, Earth is in constant motion. Many features at the surface result from the movements of tectonic plates and deformation in response to flow of the mantle beneath the crust. The theory of plate tectonics provides a framework for understanding processes at plate boundaries that give rise to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, uplift mountain ranges to dramatically transform the landscape, and open and close ocean basins. From a human's perspective, changes at Earth's surface may appear to occur at a snail's pace. However, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can produce rapid and even catastrophic change. Plate tectonics also helps explain the distribution of natural resources, including some metal ores associated with hydrothermal vents found at mid-ocean ridges or brought to the surface by volcanic activity. Interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and geosphere also reshape Earth's landscape on time scales ranging from minutes to eons. Beginning with the first world map, people have recognized that some continents may have moved significant distances. The coastlines of South America and Africa, now located on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that could move and fit back together if the intervening ocean was removed. The search for a process that could justify this apparent fit included the idea that the earth changes shape—growing larger or smaller at various times—or that continents could plow through ocean floor but each hypothesis was rejected because there was no evidence to indicate how this could happen. In the last century a solution formed based on the accumulation of data from a variety of sources and the Theory of Plate Tectonics was developed. It has become the major unifying theory in Geology to explain global change. In this unit, we will examine the search for a mechanism and how it was resolved and tested. Our Earth continues to be a restless and dynamic planet. From the tallest mountain peaks of the crust to the very center of the core, Earth is in constant motion. The unit also lays the groundwork for how we monitor modern day plate motions.

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Quick Links

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Students will be able to (do)

  • Examine evidence and methods used to develop and refine the theory of plate tectonics.
  • Locate and download EarthScope GPS data.
  • Draw conclusions about plate motion by analyzing various types of data sets.
  • Apply knowledge of vectors in creating vector time series plots.
  • Practice graphing skills.
  • Distinguish the different types of plate boundaries, including their relative motions and their global locations using geologic, GPS, seismic, and volcanic data.
  • Describe and recognize the primary types of faults and the forces that created them.
  • Explain the relationship between plate tectonics, geologic processes, and geomorphic features.

Students will know

  • Landscapes result from the dynamic interplay between processes that form and uplift new crust and the processes that depress and destroy Earth's crust.
  • That Plate Tectonics Theory provides a modern framework for understanding Earth Science.
  • The history, and types of evidence and methods used to develop and refine Plate Tectonics Theory.
  • The main classifications of plate boundaries.
  • That there is a distinct relationship between plate tectonics, active processes that take place at plate boundaries, and Earth features such as volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains, ocean trenches, mid-ocean ridges.
  • The primary types of faults and the forces that create them.
  • Earth's materials take different forms as they cycle through the geosphere.

Activities

The activities we have selected are congruent with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and are arranged to build upon one another. Therefore, to follow the storyline we recommend that teachers complete the activities in the order provided. To open an activity in a new tab or window, right click the activity link and select the preferred option.

Plate Tectonics

View Activity
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics/

This interactive website produced by the Geologic Society of London introduces students to the "Pioneers of Plate Tectonics," takes them through "What is a Plate" and "Plate Margins," to "Plate Tectonics in the UK."

Instructional Strategies: Inquiry

Resource Type: Classroom learning activity

Time Required: 150 minutes

Exercise to Introduce Google Earth and Geologic Landforms

View Activity
http://csmres.jmu.edu/Geollab/Whitmeyer/web/visuals/exercises.html

This website, belonging to Dr. Steven Whitmeyer of James Madison University, contains a collection of download links and overlay files to several Google Earth Exercises and Labs.

Instructional Strategies: Challenge or problem-solving

Resource Type: Classroom learning activity

Time Required: 250 minutes

Geoworld Plate Tectonics Lab

View Activity
https://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/guided_discovery/examples/geoworld.html

Students analyze the tectonics of a flat world (called Geoworld) that features continents with ancient mountain ranges, oceans (complete with magnetic "stripes" and a hotspot volcanic chain), an island arc and a trench. Analyses lead to some counter-intuitive conclusions, guiding students toward a deeper understanding of fundamental plate tectonic concepts.

Instructional Strategies: Inquiry

Resource Type: Laboratory investigation, experiment or demonstration

Time Required: 150 minutes

Solomon Islands Regional Tectonics

View Activity
http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/30

This narrated animation from IRIS focuses on the convergence of the Indo-Australian with the Pacific Plate in the region around the Solomon and Vanuatu island nations. The region is marked by a complicated arrangement of tectonic micro plates crushed between the greater Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates.

Instructional Strategies: Lecture

Resource Type: Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 5 minutes

Hotspots: Mantle Thermal Plumes

View Activity
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/hotspots.html

This short reading from the USGS's online edition of "This Dynamic Earth" discusses the concept of hotspots and the hotspot theory developed by J. Tuzo-Wilson, which helped to develop the Theory of Plate Tectonics. There is a note giving updated information on the hotspot model.

Instructional Strategies: Reading

Resource Type: Scholarly article

Time Required: 30 minutes

Annenberg Learner: Dynamic Earth

View Activity
https://www.learner.org/series/interactive-dynamic-earth/

Dynamic Earth is an interactive tutorial contains that students can use to learn about the structure of the Earth, the movements of its tectonic plates, as well as the forces that create mountains, valleys, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

Instructional Strategies: Inquiry

Resource Type: Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 30 minutes

Developing the Theory: Continental Drift

View Activity
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/developing.html

This short reading from the USGS's online edition of "This Dynamic Earth" discusses the technologies used and data found that helped to develop the Theory of Plate Tectonics

Instructional Strategies: Reading, Inquiry

Resource Type: Classroom learning activity , Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 30 minutes

IRIS: What is a hotspot?

View Activity
http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/21

On this IRIS animations page, two narrated animations are presented to explain how hotspots form and how a single island in a hotspot chain evolves over time.

Instructional Strategies: Lecture

Resource Type: Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 5 minutes

LPI: Hot Spot Activity

View Activity
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/workshops/plateTectonics/HotSpotMotion.pdf

In this hands-on activity, from Lunar Planetary Institute, students measure the distances of volcanic islands and seamounts in the Hawaiian Archipelago from the Hawaiian hot spot, convert and graph their data to determine the speed of the Pacific Plate.

Instructional Strategies: Inquiry

Resource Type: Classroom learning activity

Time Required: 30 minutes

Pangaea Begins to Break Up

View Activity
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fztwb

In this BBC video Dr. Iain Stewart explains how the Earth's moving tectonic plates resulted the break-up of the super-continent called Pangaea

Instructional Strategies: Lecture

Resource Type: Video

Time Required: 2 minutes

IRIS - How do Earth's tectonic plates interact?

View Activity
http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/11

On this IRIS animations page, four narrated animations explain the three main types of plate boundaries and how they interact.

Instructional Strategies: Lecture

Resource Type: Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 4 minutes

Measuring Plate Motion With GPS

View Activity
http://www.unavco.org/education/resources/educational-resources/lesson/gps-measuring-plate-motion/gps-measuring-plate-motion.html

This UNAVCO activity teaches the architecture of GPS with physical models (satellites to stations on the ground). Students interpret data for the positions of two Icelandic stations through time (time series plots) and represent the time series data as velocity vectors. They apply their skills to discover that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent plate boundary, is rifting Iceland. They apply their knowledge to the motion of cars. Finally, they explore GPS vectors in the context of global plate tectonics.

Instructional Strategies: Inquiry

Resource Type: Classroom learning activity , Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 100 minutes

Analyzing Plate Motion Using EarthScope GPS Data

View Activity
https://serc.carleton.edu/eet/platemotion/index.html

In this case study from TERC's Earth Exploration Toolbook, students access Global Positioning System (GPS) data from EarthScope's Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) and analyze the data in a spreadsheet to measure the motion of GPS stations in the Pacific Northwest.

Instructional Strategies: Inquiry

Resource Type: Classroom learning activity

Time Required: 100 minutes

UNAVCO GPS Velocity Viewer

View Activity
http://www.unavco.org/software/visualization/GPS-Velocity-Viewer/GPS-Velocity-Viewer.html

UNAVCO's Google-Maps based viewer shows the motion of Earth's crust as GPS geodesy station velocities overlaid on maps of the Earth's tectonic plates, USA active faults, earthquake locations, and volcanoes.

Instructional Strategies: Challenge or problem-solving

Resource Type: Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 30 minutes

Do Subducting Plates Slide Smoothly Past One Another?

View Activity
http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/5

These two narrated animations from IRIS model the concepts of elastic rebound and relative motion of the plates at a subduction zone.

Instructional Strategies: Lecture

Resource Type: Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 1 minute

Sumatran Tectonics

View Activity
http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/28

This IRIS narrated animation describes the different tectonic settings associated with two major Sumatran earthquakes and explains why the Indo-Australian plate seems destined to become two distinct tectonic plates: the Indian and the Australian plates.


Instructional Strategies: Lecture

Resource Type: Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 5 minutes

IRIS - What are the 4 basic classes of faults?

View Activity
http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/2

This narrated animation from IRIS describes the 4 basic classes of faults.

Instructional Strategies: Lecture

Resource Type: Visualization (static visualization, animation, simulation)

Time Required: 5 minutes

Teaching About Plate Tectonics and Faulting Using Foam Models

View Activity
http://www.iris.edu/hq/files/programs/education_and_outreach/aotm/2/FoamFaultModel_Activity.pdf

This activity focuses on understanding how plate motion affects Earth's surface. The three main types of faults, the forces that cause them, as well as geologic features observed at the Earth's surface as a result are addressed. Foam models are used for demonstrations. This activity includes instructions on how to build foam models required for this exercise (unless pre-made models are purchased), animation links, worksheets for students, as well as answer keys for teachers.

Instructional Strategies: Inquiry, Modeling

Resource Type: Laboratory investigation, experiment or demonstration

Time Required: 200 minutes

Field Trips

Studies that examine how geologists think and learn about the Earth point to the value of field experiences in helping students develop practices that constitute geologic reasoning. We encourage teachers to take students into the field as much as possible. To this end, we include ideas for virtual and actual field trips. The former recognizes the limitations of the K-12 classroom setting. Field learning provides a chance to encourage the ability to see features that are important to professional practice. Indeed, many geoscientists report that fieldwork was a key factor influencing their choice of geoscience as a career.

Careers

In our career spotlight, we learn about Marie Tharp, who mapped the ocean floor and we meet Geoscience Ambassador, Tyler Cadena, and Dr. Cindy van Dover, the director of the Duke University Marine Laboratory. Dr. Van Dover has a distinguished career as a mid-ocean ridge scientist and an Alvin pilot. The only woman Alvin pilot, Dr. Van Dover describes her pathway and what it took. Dr. Van Dover has worked closely with artists over her career, recognizing their special contributions to making the extraordinary life discovered on the seafloor to the world visible to the public.

Scaffolding Notes

Teachers must develop their own individual plan for how they will teach the unit.The learning activities and educational resources in this unit are intended to complement other instructional activities led by the teacher. Many of the selected learning experiences provide links to excellent background preparatory materials, additional hands-on resources, teaching tips, and cross-curricular connections.

Teachers will need to create their own multimedia presentations, deliver lectures and assign ancillary work to their students in order to set the stage for effective use of the learning activities contained herein. Therefore, it is imperative to allocate time to review the activities and background material prior to using the learning experiences in this unit and to probe students for their prior knowledge before starting an activity.

In addition, although some activities may incorporate assessments, teachers may need to create their own assessments to ensure that are appropriate for the students they teach.

Asterisks (*) indicate teacher resource and background information recommendations for activity support.

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Next Generation Science Standards

We anticipate that students should be able to achieve the NGSS Performance Expectation(s) listed after completing the activities in this unit. However, we have not carried out educational research to verify this.

Additional Resources

The recommended additional resources may be used to extend or augment the storyline.

Introduction to the Lithosphere: Mountain Building

View Activity
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/10k.html

The Fundamentals of Physical Geography (2nd Edition) online textbook describes an area of knowledge within Geography known as Physical Geography. Nested within the pages of this online textbook are links to study guide pages and additional reading pages for each chapter. Key Terms are bolded and are hyperlinked to a Glossary of Terms. This page has to with mountain building.

Instructional Strategies: Reading

Resource Type: Scholarly article

Time Required: 30 minutes

UNAVCO Educational Resources

UNAVCO is a non-profit, university-governed consortium that facilitated geoscience research and education using geodesy. Its website includes multiple resources for teachers, such as links to real-world data, visualization software, and activities/lab exercises for classroom use. Jules Verne Voyager, Jr. is an interactive map tool developed by UNAVCO.

IRIS is a consortium of over 120 US universities dedicated to the operation of science facilities for the acquisition, management, and distribution of seismological data. Its website includes many resources for teachers and educators.

  • [link https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/lesson/plate_motion_with_gps 'IRIS plate motion with GPS activity']
  • [link https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/lesson/exploring_plate_boundaries_with_seismic_data 'IRIS exploring plate boundaries with seismic data activity']

PhET

PhET provides free access to fun, interactive, research-based simulations for all types of physical phenomena. In addition to the simulations, there are links to teacher-created lesson plans, links to lessons in languages other than English, and there is the ability to upload a developed lesson plan. The Plate Tectonics PhET simulation is very useful as introductory material and helps set the stage for the activities in this unit. The suggested assignment allows the student to manipulate the sim and learn more about movement and composition of each plate type.