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Science Notes
Chapter 6 / Section 2 pg. 198 - 203
“The Theory of Plate Tectonics”
What I Know
What I Want to What I Learned
Know
Shifts the land 1. How many
Different plates tectonic plates
Different layers are there?
Different size 2. What causes
them to move?
3. What are
they made of?
4. How fast do
they move?
5. What does
tectonic mean?
Objective: We will learn about Plate Tectonics
and how the continents move.
Vocabulary
Plate Tectonics – (pg. 199) the theory that explains
how large pieces of Earth’s outermost layer, called
tectonic plates, move and change shape.
Tectonic Plates – (pg. 199) a block of lithosphere
that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part
of the mantle
I. Tectonic Plates (pg.
198)
A. Tectonic Plates Close-Up
1. Looks like a jigsaw puzzle
2. Crust and mantle
B. Like Ice Cubes in a Bowl of
Punch
1. Tectonic plates float on
asthenosphere
2. Tectonic plates bump into one
another & move around
3. Tectonic plates displace
(move) the asthenosphere
II. Tectonic Plate
Boundaries (pg. 200)
A. Convergent Boundaries
1. Two tectonic plates collide
a) Continental lithosphere
forms a mountain
b) Oceanic crust subducts
(sinks) below the
continental crust and
forms a volcano
c) Denser oceanic
lithosphere subducts
(sinks) and forms a island
arc (volcanoes)
B. Divergent Boundaries
1. plates separate or come apart
2. Sea Floor = mid-ocean ridges
3. On land = Iceland & Eastern
Africa
C. Transform Boundaries
1. two plates slide past each
other
2. Mostly on sea floor
a) San Andreas on sea & land
III. Causes of Tectonic
Plate Motion (pg. 202)