October 2006
Naomi J. Marty
GK-12 Program
Plate Tectonics
Concept:
Earth Science: Evidence for Theory of Plate Tectonics & Exploration of Tectonic Plate Boundary
Types
Description of Activity:
This activity begins with a great video describing the inside of the earth and the theories of
Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics. The video also hits on points such as mountain formation
by volcanoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and landform creation caused by moving plates. The
students should take notes during the video to be discussed afterwards. Following discussion,
the students explore the different plate movements using a hard-boiled egg earth model.
Anticipatory Set:
Several days before this class, the students watched the clip from the movie ‘Ice Age’ that implies
a squirrel caused the breakup of Pangea, just to get them thinking about the movement of the
continents.
State Standards:
(arkedu.state.ar.us)
ESS.8.6.1
Identify and diagram the layers of the Earth:
 crust
 mantle
 inner and outer core
ESS.8.6.3
Model how convection currents in the mantle affect lithosphere movement
ESS.8.6.5
Diagram and explain how volcanoes work
ESS.8.6.11
Investigate and map patterns of earthquake and volcanic activity
ESS.8.6.12
Locate earthquake belts on Earth:
 Mediterranean-Trans-Asiatic
 Circum-Pacific (Ring of Fire)
ESS.8.6.14
Model the effect of major geological events on land and ocean features:
 mountain building
 ocean trenches
 island formation
 mid-ocean ridges
ESS.8.6.15
Investigate careers, scientists, and historical breakthroughs related to internal forces that change
the earth
ESS.9.6.3
Analyze evidence that supports the theory of plate tectonics:
 matching coastlines
 similar rock types
 fossil record
Materials:
o Subscription to www.unitedstreaming.com
o hard-boiled eggs
o food coloring
o small paint brushes
o cups
o paper towels
Prerequisite Skills:
o None
Key Questions:
o What are the three types of tectonic plate boundaries?
o How can we describe the movement associated with each boundary?
o Can you relate the egg to the earth in other ways?
o What is missing in our egg earth model?
o Has anyone formed mountains as they move egg shell together?
o If you had to pick a place to live on your earth, where would you choose to live (hopefully
away from the boundaries as we have discussed that earthquakes and volcanoes are
frequent there)?
Management or Organization Suggestions:
o Give each student their own egg and paintbrush and have two students share food
coloring in a cup.
Procedure
1. Start class with the clip from Ice Age with squirrel causing break of Pangea (~10minutes).
2. Start class out with video clip from united streaming titled “Continents Adrift: An introduction to
Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics.” This video clip is part of a larger series and is
about 26 minutes long. Alternatively, show “Greatest Discoveries with Bill Nye: Earth
Science: Exploring the Earth,” which is about 11 minutes long.
2. Give each student a hard-boiled egg that is slightly cracked (or you can allow them to gently
crack the egg). Have the students paint each crack in the egg with food coloring using a
small paint brush.
3. The students should then softly manipulate the egg to model divergent, convergent, &
transform plate boundaries. Have them diagram these in their science journal and
describe what happens. This is when students start making connections to the video.
“Look, I made mountains!” or “Man, this would be way worse than the Ring of Fire.”
4. Have the students label subduction zones and other pertinent things in their science journal.
Reflection: What worked?
Using the egg as a model for the earth worked pretty well for the students to understand
plate movement, except that on the egg all plates are the same density. On earth, crustal plates
are less dense than oceanic plates. I think this activity needs to be supplemented with an activity
or demonstration that related how oceanic and crustal plates might be interacting as they
converge.