Plate Tectonic Webquest
Answer the questions below on your own piece of paper. You may not type this assignment.
A. Plate Movements:
 Go to: http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology//usgsnps/pltec/pltec2.html
1. About how many plates are there? (1pt)
2. Why might this number vary if you looked at a different website? (HINT: Plate size) (1pt)
3. How fast are the plates moving? (1pt)
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Go to: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Continents.shtml & watch the
plates move!
Go to: http://cddis.gsfc.nasa.gov/926/slrtecto.html, look at the map of how the plates are currently moving
4. What can you predict from these maps? (1pt)
5. List 3 impacts for the future of plate movements – Be as specific as possible in order to receive credit!
(i.e. collisions, climate changes on continents, new continents, ocean changes, etc.) (3pts)
B. Activity at Boundaries:
 Go to: http://www.crystalinks.com/rof.html, look at the activity at the boundaries!
6. What is the activity that is occurring in this diagram (what is the “ring of fire”)? (1pt)
7. Why is it important to us to know about this activity? (1pt)
C. Seafloor Spreading:
 Go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/do62se.html, read the paragraphs.
8. Who proposed the idea of seafloor spreading? (1pt)
9. Who proposed the idea of “continental drift”? (1pt)
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Go to:
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0802/es0802page04.cfm
10. Explain in your own words what you are seeing in this diagram. (What do the colors mean?) (1pt)
11. How does this image support his theory of seafloor spreading? (1pt)
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Go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/do63ma.html, read the paragraph.
12. In your words summarize how the magnetic polarities support that the plates are moving. (1pt)
Plate Movement:
 Go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tectonics/shockwave.html
Move each plate and observe what happens. You can also read a verbal description of what is
happening at that plate boundary. Answer questions below.
Divergent Boundaries (1pt)
13. …also known as a _____________boundary.
Convergent Boundaries (2 pts)
14. …also known as a _____________boundary.
15. Subduction zones create ________________on land. (Hint: Move the plate back and forth and observe.)
Collisional Boundaries (1pt)
16. Landmasses buckle and fold creating ___________________________.
Transform Boundaries (1pt)
17. Energy is released with a spurt of movement which is felt as an __________________________.
Total 19 pts.