Plate Tectonics Lesson Plans

Students use lecture, maps and video to analyze the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes. They relate this distribution to the theory of plate tectonics and conduct several experiments to illustrate the forces at work in this theory.

Students are introduced to the causes of plate movements and the hazards they present. They plot the location of 50 earthquakes and 50 volcanic eruptions on a map and explore the relationships between plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes. In the final activity, they test the effect of volcanic gases on the growth of plants.

Students study the concept of plate tectonics and how it causes changes on the earth's surface.  In this tectonics lesson students design, construct and present a plate tectonic model.

Young scholars investigate plate tectonics. They participate in a series of hands-on, Web-based and video-based activities to examine the concept of plate tectonics. Students complete a hands-on puzzle.

Students examine plate tectonics and give examples of their movement.  In this plate tectonics lesson, students recognize how plates change the Earth through video, and web-based articles. Students receive puzzle pieces and complete a puzzle by  switching pieces without talking.

Students navigate through a multimedia site to identify key information on plate tectonics. For this earth science lesson, students identify the different layers of the earth. They complete a scavenger hunt on plate tectonics.

Students examine earth's plates using an orange. In this plate tectonics lesson, students peel an orange, then use the pieces of orange peel to observe how the earth's plates are put together and how these plates cause earthquakes and volcanoes.

Students explore the Earth's movements by completing worksheets. In this plate tectonics lesson, students define such natural disasters as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and mudslides and discuss their connections to plate tectonics. Students complete worksheets which explain the cycle of plate tectonics and the impact their movements have on us all.

Learners investigate plate tectonics by observing a cracked egg shell.  In this Earth science lesson, students draw borders of continents on an egg shell, only to watch it crack in a glass.  Learners record the breakup of the "Earth" and discuss how land on Earth developed in a similar way.

Students research separate elements of the theory of Plate Tectonics, then share that information with each other, drawing conclusions from the culminated information.