Plate Tectonics & Resources
Judi Kusnick
Geology Dept.
kusnickje@csus.edu
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/k/kusnickj/index.html
How this happened
• We hadn’t done a SIRC workshop on plate
tectonics in a while.
• We’ve never done a SIRC workshop on
resources (I think)
• So I said, SURE, I can do that.
So regard this as fair warning…
• You are the guinea pigs.
• I just made this up this week.
• It’s what I would do with MY students.
This is what I promise you get
from this presentation…
• Some understanding for you of how
resources (petroleum and minerals) are
related to plate boundaries.
• A chance to try out a jigsaw strategy.
• You also get to help me figure out how to
make something like this work with high
school kids.
First let’s all remember what we
already know about plate tectonics
• On your whiteboard…
• Divide it into quarters
• In each quarter you will illustrate one of
these plate boundaries in words and
pictures:
• Diverging, transform, convergingsubduction, converging-suture (continentcontinent)
Now on to the new activity
• You are a member of a resource exploration
team for a new geoscience company.
• Name it.
• Now you need to develop experts in minerals
and in petroleum. So decide who will be the
mineral people, and who will be the
petroleum people.
• Rearrange yourself. Find a table with the
appropriate sign and join an expert group
In your expert group…
• Read the handout called Reading
Assignment
• Use the collaborative reading protocol to read
your handouts.
• Find the answers to the questions in the
reading.
• You will be going back to help your
teammates understand this material, so be
sure you understand it.
Now back to your team
• I am bringing you your challenge.
• Your job is to choose a region of the world
(out of a set of three) that you think is the
most likely place to find petroleum and
minerals.
• NOT based on your prior knowledge.
• Use the chart to organize your thinking.
• Use your whiteboard to prepare a
presentation for your investors.