Plate Tectonics Web Quest 1
Physical Science
Name: _________________________
Core: ___ Date: _________
Use the following links to answer the questions. You will need to scroll down to the contents section with the
“This Dynamic Earth” website. Answer on your own paper and in complete sentences. No printing is allowed.
This Dynamic Earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics
1. Who is the USGS? What do they do? http://www.usgs.gov/aboutusgs/
2. What is plate tectonics? When did the theory come about? http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/tectonic.html
3. Plate tectonics builds on what previous work? Explain who, when and the evidence he collected?
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/historical.html
4. Describe sea-floor spreading. Explain who, when and the evidence he collected?
5. How far do the plates move each year?
6. What are the two types of plates? How are they different?
7. What are the three types of plate boundaries? Describe and roughly draw each one showing the movement.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/understanding.html
8. Describe the “conveyor belt” principle.
9. What layer is directly beneath the plates? Describe it.
10. Complete the plate map. http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/slabs.html
11. Define the Vocabulary for 17.1 – 17.2.
12. Prepare for a quiz tomorrow on the vocabulary and the plate map.
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