Directions: Go To: http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/index.html
Earth’s Structure
Directions: Click on “Earth’s Structure” Chapter. Role your mouse over the diagrams to learn more about the interior of
earth. Match the term to its definition.
a. Asthenosphere
_____An extremely hot solid sphere of solid iron and nickel.
b. Outer Core
_____ The plates of lithosphere move (or float) on this hot, semiliquid
zone in the upper mantle.
c.
_____ Made up the crust and a tiny bit of the upper mantle. Is divided
into several moving plates.
Lithosphere
d. Inner Core
_____ The only liquid layer of earth - mostly iron an nickel.
Plate Tectonics
Directions: Both of these are pictures of the earth. Click on the one that looks more like the earth today. Read the Plate
Tectonic section and answer the questions below.
a. List and explain 2 types of evidence that Alfred Wegener used to support the concept of
Pangea (Continental Drift).
b. What is the theory of plate tectonics?
Continents Over Time Click on the link and see if you can trace how earth’s continents have shifted over time.
Plates & Boundaries
Directions: The earth’s continents are constantly moving due to the motions of tectonic plates. Read over the section
and examine the boundaries and map below to answer the questions. Identify the boundaries below and list examples of
these boundaries throughout the world.
a. ____________________
b. ____________________
c. ____________________
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Plates & Boundaries Challenge: Click on the link. See how many of the tectonic plates and boundaries you can
identify.
Slip, Slide, & Collide
Directions: Read, then Click on “See what happens at different plate boundaries”. Answer the questions below based on
the information and animations.
Convergent Boundaries-Colliding plates
a. Compare and contrast oceanic and continental crust. Which is denser? Thicker?
b. Use the following terms to describe how subduction zones form: subduction, trench, magma,
density.
c. What happens when 2 continental plates collide?
Divergent Boundaries –Spreading Plates
a. Use the following terms to describe how sea-floor spreading: mid-ocean ridge, rift, divergent
boundaries.
Transform Boundaries-Grinding Plates
a. What is a fault?
b. How do transform boundaries and resulting faults produce earthquakes?
Plates Interactions Challenge: Click on the link. See if you can figure out the plate movements and geologic events
occurring at real-world locations.
Test Skills
Move on to Test Skills. Fill in your first and last name, complete the assessment. If you have less than 12 out of
15 (less than an 80%), review and re-take the quiz. Show me your final score when finished.