Science
Grade: 9th
SCI.V.1.2
Strand V:
Using Scientific Knowledge in Earth Science
Standard 1:
Geosphere- All students will describe and explain how the earth’s
features change over time.
Benchmark 2: Use the plate tectonics theory to explain features of the earth’s
surface and geological phenomena and describe evidence for
the plate tectonics theory.
Constructing and Reflecting:
SCI.I.1.4 – Gather and synthesize information from books and other sources of information.
SCI.II.1.1 - Justify plans or explanations on a theoretical or empirical basis.
Vocabulary
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Plate tectonics theory
Tectonic plate
Rift valley
Mid-ocean ridge
Subduction
Trench
Ring of Fire
Continental drift
Crust
Mantle
Convection
Convergence zone
Divergent zone
Core
Tension
Compression
Shearing
Plates
Continental Crust
Plates
Oceanic Crust
Faults
Folded Mountains
Hot Spots
Context
•
Recent patterns of earthquake and volcanic
activities
•
Maps showing the direction and movement of
major plates and associated earthquake and
volcanic activity
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Compressional boundaries: folded mountains,
thrust faults, trenches (subduction zones), lines of
volcanoes (e.g., Pacific “ring of fire”)
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Tensional boundaries: mid-ocean ridges, rift
valleys
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Shearing boundaries: lateral movement
producing faults (e.g., San Andreas Fault)
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Pangea (Continent formation)
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Fossil evidence
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Mountain formation
Knowledge and Skills
Students will:
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Interpret the early evidence of continental
movements, such as similarities across
continents in existing animals, plants,
fossils, shoreline shapes, and rock layer
sequences.
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Illustrate how seafloor bedrock patterns and
age (paleo-magnetism) provide convincing
evidence of plate motions.
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Differentiate between continents and plates.
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Identify plate boundaries as lines of
earthquakes on a world earthquake map.
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Describe the causes of earthquakes as
compression (plates moving together),
tension (plates moving apart), or shearing
(plates sliding sideways).
Resources
Coloma Resources:
Glencoe
CH 16.2 Seafloor
CH 17 Plate Tectonics
CH 18 Volcanic Activity
CH 19 Earthquakes
CH 20 Mountain Building
Glencoe Lab 17.1 magnetism & ocean ridges
Other Resources:
• Michigan Teacher Network Resources
• USGS Explanation of Plate Tectonics: major types of
plate boundaries with geographic examples.
• Plate Tectonics and the Cause of Earthquakes
• CEEP (Crustal Evolution Education Project Modules).
National Association of Geology Teachers
• Causes of earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis with
animations.
http://www.thirteen.org/savageearth/
• Scope Unit – Earth Movers (eighth)
• Earthquakes.
http://www.thetech.org/hyper/quakes/intro/
• Plate tectonics.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics.html
• Plate tectonics modules, hurricanes, El Nino, wind and
ozone depletion. MESTA, 2000.1.
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/
• Seismological Laboratory.
http://www.seismo.unr.edu/htdocs/seismolab.html
• Tectonics and ocean floor data. MESTA, 2000.1.
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/
• Volcanoes.
Http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/volcanoes.html
Instruction
Benchmark Question: What evidence is there
that the Earth’s outer layer is composed of
large pieces that are moving?
Focus Question: How can the location of
earthquakes be used to show plate
boundaries?
The teacher will provide each student with a
world map.
Assessment
Each student will be given a world map including
epicenter locations along with magnitude and depth
to hypocenter data. “Hypocenter” is a modern
alternative to “focus,” the place underground where
the slippage actually began.
The teacher will assign a particular plate to each
student. The student will analyze that plate’s
boundaries and distinguish between tensional and
compressional boundaries.
Students will research earthquake location data
for a period of many years using the internet or
other sources. The teacher will demonstrate
how to plot epicenters by using a website that
automatically plots them over a period of years.
Working with a partner, students will plot
epicenters on the map using latitude and
longitude.
Note: A tensional plate boundary is characterized by
shallow hypocenter, lower magnitude quakes. A
compressional boundary involving an ocean plate is
often a subduction zone where quakes are arranged
in deepening bands under the continent and where
magnitudes tend to be greater.
Extension: Students can distinguish the nature
of plate boundaries based on earthquake
magnitudes: compressional (larger magnitudes,
shallow to deep hypocenters, subduction
common) and tensional (smaller magnitudes,
shallow hypocenters, rifting common.
Write a 5 paragraph compare and contrast essay on
plates vs. continents.
Paleomagnetism labs, see appendix
Corresponds to standard I.1.4
(Give students rubric before activity.)
Create a model or timeline that shows the sequence
of an earthquake
Criteria
Apprent.
Basic
Meets
Exceeds
Analysis
of data
Identifies
one: either
type of
boundary,
depth of
hypocenters, or
magnitudes.
Identifies
two:
boundary
and either
depth of
hypocenter
s or magnitude.
Identifies all
three: types
of
boundary,
depth of
hypo
centers,
and
magnitude
of quakes.
Identifies and
explains with
the aid of a
diagram the
relationships
between type
of boundary,
depth of
hypocenters,
and
magnitude of
quakes.
Teacher Notes:
Describe and explain how the earth's features change over time.
As students gain understanding, they start to explore the dynamics of the geosphere. They come to
realize that the earth's features are constantly changing, some of these changes are immediate and
some take eons. Wind and water erode away mountains and hills. Ice and heat break apart rocks.
Rivers cut new valleys and dams form new lakes. Volcanoes and earthquakes form new mountains
and hills. Wind and water combine to build sand dunes and then turn around and erode them away.
The forces that work to change the surface of the earth in this continuing dynamic are tremendous and
sometime even catastrophic. A volcano can explosively form a mountain or island in a matter of hours,
while rivers can take decades to carve out valleys.
The evidence for these changes is abundant. By studying rock layers, and fossils, (i.e., mineralized
replacements or casts of ancient life forms), students learn the history of the geosphere. They discover
that these fossils are found in many places, and that rock layers can become inverted. Marine plants
and animals are found on mountaintops and in limestone deposits in the Great Lakes area. Creatures
from rain forests have left fossilized remains in current deserts, and plains animals are found in frozen
in artic ice. From road cuts they will see how the earth is folded to a point where layers of rock are
reversed. In the Great Lakes Basin they observe a history that goes from salt-water seas, to inland
swamps, to high plateaus, to the largest collection of fresh water on the planet.
Students will continue to gain understanding of the geosphere as they discover that similar processes
form rocks and minerals. They will learn of the tremendous amount of heat and pressure involved in
their formation. They will also observe how changes in temperature from melting to freezing and vise
versa changes big features into little ones. Rocks are fractured through this process. Water in small
cracks and crevices of rocks can freeze, expanding as it freezes and breaking the rock into small
pieces. Students will notice how microorganisms help turn rocks into soil, and how they turn organic
materials back into minerals, thus returning needed materials to the earth.
With the help of media presentations about volcanoes and earthquakes, students will observe the
movement of the Earth's crust. This will lead to an understanding of the dynamics of the earth's
interior- its core, a dynamic that can build mountains. From this knowledge of the fluidity, tremendous
heat and pressure that are involved in the dynamics of the earth's core, comes an understanding of
what leads scientists to theorize the movement of plates in the earth, the study of plate tectonics.