Science in a Bag – Student Page
Snack Tectonics
Grade Level
5th
Standards
GLE 0507.7.1 Compare geologic events responsible for the earth’s major geological
features.
0507.7.1 Create a model to illustrate geologic events responsible for changes in the
earth’s crust.
SPI 0507.7.1 Describe internal forces such as volcanoes, earthquakes, faulting, and plate
movements that are responsible for the earth’s major geological features such as
mountains, valleys, etc.
0507.7.2 Prepare a chart to compare how volcanoes, earthquakes, faulting, and plate
movements affect the earth’s surface features.
Task Objective
The student will be able to create a model illustrating aspects of plate tectonics through
the use of graham crackers and frosting.
The student will manipulate the graham crackers in various ways to model divergent
plate boundaries, convergent plate boundaries, transform plate boundaries, and
subduction zones.
The student will be able to accurately sketch their observations.
Materials Needed
Graham Crackers
Wax paper
Frosting
Plastic knife
Interactive Notebook
Pencil
Procedures
1. Lay your wax paper across a flat surface
2. Use your plastic knife to carefully spread the icing out over your wax paper.
3. Put two graham crackers side by side, and slide one up away from you and
the other one down toward you.
4. Briefly describe your actions in your Interactive Notebook, and label it as a
Transform Plate Boundary.
5. Now place your graham crackers very close to each other but not touching, and
slowly push them together.
6. Briefly describe your actions in your Interactive Notebook, and label it as a
Convergent Plate Boundary.
7. Put your graham crackers side by side on the wax paper, but this
time slide them away from one another.
8. Briefly describe your actions in your Interactive Notebook, and label it as a
Divergent Plate Tectonic.
9. Push two crackers toward each other, and make one slide underneath the
other.
10. Briefly describe your actions in your Interactive Notebook, and label it as a
Subduction Zone.
Academic Vocabulary
divergent boundaries, convergent boundaries, transform boundaries, subduction zone,
plate tectonics, Earth’s crust, Earth’s mantle, Earth’s inner core, Earth’s outer core,
lithosphere, asthenosphere
Assessment
Annotated Student Drawings (Fact #3):
The students will create illustrations that visually represent their vocabulary words as
follows: asthenosphere, divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries and subduction
zone. Using arrows and words, they should label their
pictures.
Clean-up
The students may end their activity by eating their graham
crackers and icing. They should then dispose of any leftovers,
including the wax paper and plastic knives, in the trashcan.
Science in a Bag – Teacher Page
Snack Tectonics
Grade Level
5th
Standards
GLE 0507.7.1 Compare geologic events responsible for the earth’s major geological
features.
0507.7.1 Create a model to illustrate geologic events responsible for changes in the
earth’s crust.
SPI 0507.7.1 Describe internal forces such as volcanoes, earthquakes, faulting, and plate
movements that are responsible for the earth’s major geological features such as
mountains, valleys, etc.
0507.7.2 Prepare a chart to compare how volcanoes, earthquakes, faulting, and plate
movements affect the earth’s surface features.
Task Objective
The student will be able to create a model illustrating aspects of plate tectonics through
the use of graham crackers and frosting.
The student will manipulate the graham crackers in various ways to model divergent
plate boundaries, convergent plate boundaries, transform plate boundaries, and
subduction zones.
The student will be able to accurately sketch their observations.
Explanation
When plates move past each other, as they do in transform boundaries, things
don’t exactly go smoothly. The plates typically get stuck to one another, and then send a
little jolt and move on, producing waves of vibrations that travel through the Earth’s
interior. These vibrations are so powerful they came to be known as earthquakes.
When divergent boundaries create rifts, or big cracks in the ocean floor, the
movement of the plate separation causes magma to ooze up from below and makes new
ocean floor or creates underwater mountain ranges.
Just like many mountain ranges around the earth that were formed as two
convergent plates slowly crumbled together over millions of years, the ridge of pushedup cracker will symbolize a similar action.
In a subduction zone, the bottom plate starts to melt from the intense heat and
pressure. The result is new magma that floats up between two plates, continuously
building up over many years until it finally causes a volcano blast. The graham crackers
will act as a subduction zone, with one cracker above another putting pressure on the
other.
Academic Vocabulary
Earth’s Crust: The first layer of the Earth, consisting of about ten miles of rock and
other loose materials.
Earth’s mantle: The portion of the earth, about 1800 miles thick, between the crust and
the core. It is made of a thick, solid, rocky substance.
Earth’s Outer Core: Extending to around 3000 miles beneath the Earth’s surface, it is
believed that this layer is made up of super heated liquid molten lava.
Earth’s Inner Core: This layer extends another 900 miles toward the center of the Earth
and is believed to be a solid ball of mostly iron and nickel.
Plate Tectonics: large pieces of the lithosphere that slowly move on top of the
asthenosphere. There are seven primary plates and many smaller ones. The seven primary
plates are the African Plate, Antarctic Plate, Eurasian Plate, Indo-Australian Plate, North
American Plate, Pacific Plate, and South American Plate.
Lithosphere: a rigid, brittle layer made up of the crust and the uppermost part of the
mantle.
Asthenosphere: a soft, flexible upper layer of the mantle, on which the tectonic plates
move
Convergent plate boundaries: the action of two tectonic plates moving toward each
other
Divergent plate boundaries: the action of two tectonic plates moving away from each
other
Transform plate boundary: the action in which two tectonic plates slip past each other,
moving in opposite directions
Subduction Zone: an area in which one tectonic plate sinks below another, returning to
the mantle, where the rock is re-melted.
The vocabulary words I chose for this activity were a necessity in order for the students
to grasp the concepts of what composes the planet we live on and how our geological
features are formed. The vocabulary activity I picked was the perfect way to coerce
students into making sense and awareness of their own ideas. This technique challenges
students to think about how to visually represent and explain an idea with minimal use of
words.
Common Misconceptions
- Tectonic plates are rigid.
- Rising magma pushes tectonic plates apart.
- Ridges are in a fixed position.
- Subduction is a forcible, aggressive action.
- The mantle convects.
Real World Connection
Depending on which part of the United States you live in, one will experience an
earthquake at some point in their life. Even if the earthquake was not large enough to
physically feel, they still occur everyday in some parts of the world. This is caused by
transform plate boundaries! Another real world connection is mountain ranges all over
the world. For example, the Himalayas (the mountain range that includes Mount Everest)
was formed through convergent plate boundaries, when India crashed into Asia! By
learning about the different forms of plate tectonics, one can better understand how some
of the major geological features on the very planet we inhibit were created.
Connections Across the Curriculum
English Language Arts
The student will briefly describe the relationship between the four layers that make up the
Earth.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3
Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas,
or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the
text.
The student will write an informative one-page paper containing and appropriately
utilizing all eleven of their vocabulary words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2.D
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the
topic.
Mathematics
The student will convert the thickness of the Earth’s four layers in miles to kilometers
and record this data in their interactive notebooks.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.MD.A.1
Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement
system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step,
real world problems.
References
Snack Tectonics
http://jclahr.com/science/earth_science/cr06/workshop/activities/snack/snack_tectonics.ht
ml
Common Core Science Standards
http://tn.gov/education/standards/science/SCI_Grade_5.pdf
Science Formative Assessment (Page Keeley)
Plate Tectonics Vocabulary Terms
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/help-with-geography/55610-plate-tectonicsvocabulary/
Geology For Kids, The Study of Our Earth
http://www.kidsgeo.com/geology-for-kids/0024-earths-inner-core.php
about education
http://geology.about.com/od/platetectonics/a/aa071104a.htm
Common Core Literacy Standards
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/5/
Common Core Math Standards
http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/5/MD/