Name: _________________________________________ Date: ________________________ Block: _______
SEAFLOOR SPREADING MODEL
PROCEDURES:
1. Fold the paper with the 3 dotted lines in half perpendicular to the lines. Cut along each dotted line to make 3
slits in the paper. Set aside.
2. On the sheet with the words START, draw a line in any color marker underneath the words START the whole way
across the page.
3. In the same color, continue drawing lines across the page parallel to the line you just drew until you reach the
bottom. Vary the spacing and thickness of your lines.
4. Choose other colors to add to the pattern. Vary the spacing and thickness of your lines. Do not create an
identical look from top to bottom.
5. Cut along the dotted line so you’ll have two identical strips with the title “START.”
6. Face the two strips together with the START titles facing each other.
7. Thread the two strips through the middle slit of the other sheet.
8. Pull the strips away from each other and push the ends through the outer slits. (Figure 1)
CONCLUSIONS: (answer the following questions using complete sentences when possible)
1. What is happening at Slit B? _________________________________________________________________________
2. What feature occurs at the corresponding location on the seafloor? _________________________________________
3. What is happening at Slits A and C? ___________________________________________________________________
4. What features occur at corresponding locations on the seafloor? ___________________________________________
5. If you were to sample and date the rocks along the colored strip starting at Slit B and moving toward Slit A, what
change if any would you see in the age of the rocks?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. If you were to sample and date the rocks along the colored strip starting at Slit B and moving toward Slit C, what
change if any would you see in the age of the rocks?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. In this model, what do the strips represent? ____________________________________________________________
8. What do the color stripes represent? __________________________________________________________________
Look at the map below showing some of Earth’s mid-ocean ridges and the direction of their motion.
9. Are the plates moving toward or away from each other at mid-ocean ridges?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. What is happening to the Atlantic Ocean? Explain your answer.
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