Your class will be on top of their game when it comes to mid-ocean ridges! The second installment in a 13-part series focuses on the 65,000-km underwater ridge system that spans our globe. Junior oceanographers practice placing the continents, identifying the locations of mid-ocean ridges, and determining the age of the crust at distances from the ridge.

Concepts

plate boundaries, plate movement, plate tectonics, mid-ocean ridges, basalt, volcanic eruptions, magma, lava, continents

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

science

Show More Show Less

Instructional Ideas

• Print the questions that accompany the activities for a quick formative assessment
• Bring samples of basalt to class to allow learners to explore with their senses

Classroom Considerations

• Use the interactive in beginning to intermediate-level geology and earth science classes
• Schedule computer time to complete all portions of the lesson

Pros

• The activities provide great hands-on modeling for relating continents, plates, and ridges
• Teachers can print the lesson if computers are not available

Cons

• Mid-Ocean Ridges interactive is formatted as a CD, but it is supposed to play as a Quicktime video