Tectonic Plates

Earth and Space

Tectonic Plates
Background Information
1. What events occur when the tectonic plates move and grind against each other?
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2. Name a location where divergent boundaries occur.
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3. Name a location where convergent boundaries occur.
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4. Name a location where transform boundaries occur.
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5. What is the Ring of Fire?
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6. Which layer of Earth is semi-plastic, flows, and carries the lithosphere of Earth?
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Tectonic Plates
Earth and Space

Part I: Modeling Plate Movement

Label the cross-section diagram of your model below using the words lithosphere and
asthenosphere. The large cracker piece on the bottom does not need to be labeled.

CROSS-SECTION
DIAGRAM OF MODEL

Figure ONE: Draw in arrows to show

direction of cracker movement in steps
5 and 6. Label the lithospheric plates.
Draw in the asthenosphere and label it.

1. Did your plates converge, diverge, or

transform?
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2. What do you feel as the sides of
the crackers slide past each other?
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3. What event might occur when plates
move in this manner?
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Tectonic Plates
Earth and Space

Part I: Modeling Plate Movement, continued

Figure TWO: Draw a cross-section of
your model as it looks in steps 7 and 8.
Add arrows to show movement
direction. Label the lithosphere and the
asthenosphere.

Figure THREE: Draw a cross-section of

your model as it looks in step 9 and 10.
Add arrows to show the direction of
movement. Label the lithosphere and
the asthenosphere.

Figure FOUR: Draw a cross-section of

your model as it looks in step 11 and
12. Add arrows to show the direction of
movement. Label the subduction zone,
the lithospheric plate containing oceanic
crust, and the lithospheric plate
containing continental crust.

1.

Did your plates converge, diverge, or

transform?
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2.

What landform is created on the

surface of Earth when plates move in
this manner?
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1.

Did your plates converge, diverge, or

transform? ___________________

2.

What do you see between the crackers

(what is exposed?) on your model?
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3.

Is crust created or destroyed when

plates move in this manner?
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1.

Did your plates converge, diverge, or

transform? ___________________

2.

What leaked out when one cracker

overlapped the other on your model?
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3.

When earth material leaks through

crust, what kind of landform is created
as plates move in this manner?
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Tectonic Plates
Earth and Space

Part II: Mapping Tectonic Plates

1.
2.
3.

Major plate boundaries are shown on the map by dashed lines.

Label the plates as listed in your Student Guide, the Antarctic plate has been labeled for you.
Use eight different colors of map pencils to shade the plates. Where a single plate starts on
one side of the page and continues on the other side of the page, be sure to use the same
color on each piece of the plate. Even though the plate is split into two parts on the page, it is
actually one plate.

The Major Tectonic Plates

Antarctic Plate

Tectonic Plates
Earth and Space

Part III: Ancient Earth

Paste or tape the maps of Earth as it changed through ancient history in the spaces below. Then
draw in your prediction of what the landmasses will look like 200 million years from today in the last
box.
PERMIAN
225 million years ago
(the supercontinent)

TRIASSIC
200 million years ago

JURASSIC
150 million years ago

CRETACEOUS
65 million years ago

PRESENT DAY

Draw in your prediction of what you

think the landmasses will look like 200
million years from today.

Tectonic Plates
Earth and Space

Reflections and Conclusions

1. What are the major tectonic plates?
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2. What are the different ways tectonic plates move in relation to each other?
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3. What landforms could be the result of diverging plates?
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4. What landforms could be the result of converging plates?
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5. What major event could occur as the result of transforming plates?
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6. If crust is constantly created at divergent boundaries, why isnt Earth getting larger?
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7. An area with many volcanoes that includes the western borders of South, Central, and North
America, the southern border of Alaska, and the eastern border of Japan is often called the
Ring of Fire. Why did so many volcanoes form in these areas?
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