| Subject
Matter: |
Earth Science |
| Grade Level:
|
9 |
| Time Allotment:
|
Three 50-minute class
sessions |
Overview
Where are you traveling
today? You live on a landmass that is moving very slowly. How do
we know? Ocean fossils have been found on mountain peaks and tropical
plant fossils have been found where temperatures rarely reach above
freezing. In this lesson, students will learn more about plate tectonics
using a number of interactive Web and video resources.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able
to:
- Identify the evidence supporting the theory of plate tectonics.
- Explain and diagram the divergent, convergent and transform
plate boundaries.
- Identify the direction of the movement of the major tectonic
plates.
Oregon Standards Available
at:
http://www.ode.state.or.us/cifs
Subject –
Earth Science
- Understand physical properties of the Earth, how those properties
change and the Earth's relationship to other celestial bodies.
The Dynamic Earth
- Understand changes occurring within the lithosphere, hydrosphere
and atmosphere of the Earth.
Media Components
Video
Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/
to find access to the video(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced
in this lesson plan.
- Continents Adrift: An Introduction to Continental Drift and
Plate Tectonics" (26:05)
o Clip: "Pangaea: The History of the Continents"
(02:23)
o Clip: "The Ocean Floor: Clues About Continental
Drift on Earth" (02:40)
o Clip: "Plate Tectonics (01:21)
o Clip: "How the Inner Structure of Planet
Earth Affects Plate Tectonics (05:43)
Web
Materials
Per Student:
Per Class
and/or Group:
- Blank drawing paper
- Colored pencils, crayons or chalk
Prep for Teachers
When using media, provide
students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a
specific task to complete and/or information to identify during
or after viewing of video, Web sites or other multimedia elements.
Prior to teaching this
lesson, bookmark the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer
or provide a list of URLs that students can type into the address
bar. Make sure that each Web site is still available for use before
bookmarking.
Download the video clips
onto the computer that will be used for the classroom presentation.
Be sure each video clip displays appropriately by using appropriate
plug-ins and media players. Make sure the screensaver is turned
off or is on a long delay.
Reserve the computer lab
if one is available.
Introductory Activity
Day 1
Step 1: Review
with students the oceans and continents by playing the interactive
map game available at http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/worldquiz.html.
Step 2: Provide
students with a Focus for Media Interaction by
having them write the major continent names down as they play the
game. Review the list as a class. Continent names should include
North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa
and Antarctica.
Step 3:
Provide students with a map of the world from http://abcteach.com/Maps/world.htm.
Have them cut out the major landmasses, reassemble them into one
major landmass and glue them onto another sheet of paper.
Step 4: Have
students compare maps with the student beside them. Students
may see some variation in the way the maps were assembled. Australia
would be misplaced because Antarctica was left off the map and Australia
should connect with it.
Step 5: Have
students write the names of the landmasses on the newly created
single landmass map using the list they created from their interactive
game. The students would use the names North America,
South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and Antarctica.
Antarctica would be left off and Greenland would be added.
Step 6: Ask
students if they think it is possible for the continents to have
been connected at one time. Some students may already know that
the continents were together and will respond with a "yes."
Others may say "no" or that maybe some of the continents
fit together.
Step 7: Explain
to students that they are going to play another interactive game
(available at http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/pangaea/Pangaea_game.html)
that reviews the continents of the Earth 250 million years ago.
Step 8: Provide
students with a Focus for Media Interaction by
having them compare the map they just created with the map on the
interactive Web site. Have students write the similarities and differences
between their maps and the map on this Web site on the side of the
maps they made. Australia should be connected to Antarctica
and the angles of the other continent connections may be
slightly wrong.
Step 9:
Ask students what kind of evidence scientists might look for to
prove the continents may have formed one large landmass in the past.
The shape of the continents match up; fossil evidence on each
continent would be the same; rock type would be the same; tropical
fossils found in areas too cold to grow plants; glacial evidence
in countries without glaciers.
Learning Activities
Day 2
Step 1: Explain
to students that they are going to watch a short video clip on the
history of the continents. Provide students with a Focus
for Media Interaction by asking them to record important
names that are mentioned, any examples of evidence that would support
the theory of the continents having been one large landmass and
where the evidence came from that proved continental drift occurs.
Step 2: Play
the video clip, "Pangaea: The History of the Continents (02:23),
from the video, "Continents Adrift: An Introduction to Continental
Drift and Plate Tectonics" (26:05).
Step 3: At
the end of the video, ask students to share the important names
they recorded and evidence that would support the continents forming
one large landmass. Students' answers should include Alfred
Wegener and Pangaea; evidence includes continental shapes matching
like a jigsaw puzzle, fossils that were identical in both South
America and Africa, and plant fossils in cold arctic regions; and
the proof was in the mapping of the ocean floor.
Step 4:
Have students brainstorm a list of the possible evidence scientists
found on the ocean floor that supports continental drift. Possible
answers might be the shape of the ocean floor and underwater mountains.
Step 5: Explain
to students that they are going to watch another video clip on the
results of exploring the ocean floor. Provide students with a Focus
for Media Interaction by asking them to record the clues
that scientists found on the ocean floor that supported continental
drift.
Step 6: Play the
video clip, "The Ocean Floor: Clues About Continental Drift
on Earth" (02:40), from the video, "Continents Adrift:
An Introduction to Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics" (26:05).
Step 7: At
the end of the video, ask students for the clues they recorded.
Information should include underwater mountain range in the
middle of the Atlantic Ocean called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge; newly
formed lava pushing up from the crack; geysers; life-forms in the
heated water; the ocean floor being older the greater the distance
from the crack as a result of sea-floor spreading.
Step 8: Explain
to students that they are going to watch another video clip about
the drifting continents. Provide students with a Focus for
Media Interaction by asking them to record the structures
the Earth's crust is broken into and the name of the theory that
explains the moving continents.
Step 9: Play
the video clip, "Plate Tectonics" (01:21),
from the video, "Continents Adrift: An Introduction to Continental
Drift and Plate Tectonics" (26:05).
Step 10: At
the end of the video, ask students for the name of the crust structures
and the name of the theory. Students should respond with tectonic
plates and the Plate Tectonic Theory.
Step 11: Explain
to students that they are going to watch their final video clip.
Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction
by asking them to record the mechanism that causes the tectonic
plates to move and the three types of boundaries that are formed
when the plates interact with each other.
Step 12: Play
the video clip, "How the Inner Structure of Planet
Earth Affects Plate Tectonics (05:43), from the video, "Continents
Adrift: An Introduction to Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics"
(26:05).
Step 13: At
the completion of the video, have students work in pairs and use
the information they recorded to diagram, label and describe the
mechanism that causes the plates to move and the crustal interactions
that take place between tectonic plate boundaries. Provide students
with drawing paper and colored pencils, crayons or chalk to complete
the activity.
Culminating Activity
Day 3
If a computer lab is available,
have the students take the single landmass maps they created to
the lab and use the interactive Web site at http://www.scotese.com/pangeanim.htm
to draw arrows on the maps showing the direction of the movement
of the tectonic plates when they separated from each other. If a
computer lab is not available, complete the activity as a class
using the classroom computer and projection device.
The next activity will
also take place in the computer lab, or as a class if a computer
lab is not available, and will involve students working with their
partners to check the labeled diagram they created. Students will
need to access two animated Web sites to correct the diagram or
add information they left off of the diagram. The first Web site,
called Mountain Maker, Earth Shaker, is found at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/tectonics/intro.html.
The students will need to follow the three links at the bottom of
the page to view the text, illustrations and animations showing
results of the plate boundary interactions. The second Web site
is found at
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/animations/hellscrust/main.html.
Students will need to progress through the text and animations by
following the continue button at the bottom of each window.
Finally, have the students
work in pairs and explain their maps to the rest of the students
in the class.
Cross-Curricular Extensions
Geography
- Use a world map with longitude and latitude lines to map earthquakes.
Engineering
- Research structural designs used to make buildings earthquake
resistant.
Community Connections
- Contact the local United States or State Geological Office and
invite a geologist in to talk and answer questions about plate
tectonics and local geological formations that provide evidence
for changes in landforms.
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