1. Plate Tectonics
YouTube: Continental Drift: Alfred Wegener Song
3:03

2. YouTube: Early Earth and Plate Tectonics
5:16
Tectonic Plates
Large broken pieces of the earth’s crust (lithosphere) that collide or slide past each other atop the asthenosphere

3. Pangaea
Current theory suggests that all of Earth’s continents were once combined to form a single landmass we call Pangaea
YouTube: Bill Nye Pangaea
2:25

4. Alfred Wegener
Alfred Wegener was a German scientist who formed the Theory of Plate Tectonics and proposed the idea of continental drift
This theory states that Earth is broken into several plates that are constantly moving and drifting, resulting in changes to the earth
YouTube: Alfred Wegener: Great Minds
4:54

5. Theories, Laws, and Facts!
Scientific Theory – Explains a complex idea and is supported by evidence
Ex: Theory of Plate Tectonics
Scientific Law – Describes an observed phenomenon and is supported by evidence from multiple experiments, but does not explain how or why
Newton’s Law of Gravity or Laws of Motion
Scientific Fact – Accepted as being true, measurable and observable
Water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius; Earth has one moon

6. Name That Plate!
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Name That Plate!
Notes
Leave space at the top of your page for today’s notes.
Draw a table on your notebook page just like the one shown on the right. (Hint: Place your numbers on the left side of the red line.)
Title the first column “Prediction”.
Title the second column “Answer”.
Prediction
Answer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

7. Types of Tectonic Plates
Continental Plate – A thicker (fatter) plate containing continental crust (a continent exists on top)
Oceanic Plate – A thinner (skinnier) plate containing only oceanic crust (covered entirely by ocean water)

8. Color Your Plate Boundaries Map
1 = Yellow 2 = Brown 3 = Purple 4 = Green 5 = Orange 6 = Blue 7 = Red 8 = Brown 9 = Blue 10 = Green 11 = Brown 12 = Red 13 = Green 14 = Yellow 15 = Blue

9. Name That Plate! KEY Pacific Plate North American Plate
South American Plate
Eurasian Plate
African Plate
Antarctic Plate
Australian Plate
Indian Plate
Juan de Fuca Plate
Nazca Plate
Filipino Plate
Caribbean Plate
Scotia Plate
Arabian Plate
Cocos Plate
Name That Plate Interactive Quiz – Learner.org

10. Name That Plate! KEY Pacific Plate North American Plate
South American Plate
Eurasian Plate
African Plate
Antarctic Plate
Australian Plate
Indian Plate
Juan de Fuca Plate
Nazca Plate
Filipino Plate
Caribbean Plate
Scotia Plate
Arabian Plate
Cocos Plate
Name That Plate Interactive Quiz – Learner.org

11. 3 Types of Plate Boundaries
Divergent – Plates move away or spread apart
Convergent – Plates come together
Transform – Plates slide past each other in opposite directions
Divergent
Convergent
Transform

12. Divergent Boundaries New crust is formed as plate spread apart
Divergent Animation
Divergent Boundaries
New crust is formed as plate spread apart
This process is called seafloor spreading and creates mid-ocean ridges in the ocean basin

13. Convergent Boundaries
Convergent Animation
Convergent Boundaries
Crust is destroyed and recycled back into the mantle
This movement creates volcanoes, mountains, trenches, and earthquakes

14. Convergent Boundaries
Convergent Animation
Convergent Boundaries
Some plates get pushed together and one plate is subducted under the other
This area of the boundary is called the subduction zone
Some plates get pushed together and both fold up to form folded mountains

15. Transform Animation
Transform Boundaries
Plates slide past and against each other in opposite directions
This creates earthquakes and fault lines