WELCOME STUDENTS AND PARENTS!
Here I will be uploading an overview of my lesson plans so you may be aware of what we will be learning in class and how you can prepare.
Plate Tectonic Lesson Plan
Overview: Students will be learning and exploring the effects of plate tectonics on Earth and how they affect us globaly.
Essential Questions: What are Plate Tectonics? How do they affect us?
Some questions to spark student interest:
1. Have you ever experienced an earthquake?
2. Where do mountains come from?
3. Does the ocean have mountains?
4. Are the Hawaiian Islands floating in the Pacific Ocean?
Some questions to focus on important aspects of the lesson:
1. How do plate tectonics affect the Earth's surface?
2. How are mountains, volcanoes and islands form? How do they differ?
3. Where does magma/lava come from?
4. What are faults and trenches?
5. How are tsunamis formed?
Students may have some prior knowledge on mountains, volcanoes and islands. Students could also bring forth personal experiences with the latter or with earthquakes.
Lesson:
(Lesson is broken into four sections and is a blended lesson, meaning that the teacher, the smart board and the tablet application will reinforce the lesson with a tactile quality to it. This blended method will provide students with a more productive and clear understanding of the lesson.)
Outline of Plate Tectonic Lesson
1.) Questions on plate tectonics will be presented to students. Students will be given a few minutes for open discussion and to answer questions with the teacher. (5 minutes)
2.) Introduction to Plate Tectonics:
⦁ Convergent Boundary: Slide towards each other (Subduction Zones (Trenches))
⦁ Divergent Boundary: Moving apart from one another (Magma rises and cools to make new land)
⦁ Transform Boundaries: Slide past one another (Earthquakes and Faults are created)
⦁ Plate Boundary Zone: not well defined boundaries (Little information/Recently discovered)
3.) Layers of the Earth and Plate Movements:
⦁ Oceanic Crust: Bottom of the ocean where heat vents have been discovered.
⦁ Lithosphere: Where plate tectonic movement happens. Humans cannot surpass the Lithosphere. (Layer where life can thrive)
⦁ Asthenosphere: Also called the hollow mantle. The Lithosphere lies above this layer.
⦁ Upper and Lower Mantle: Where magma is created and where the lava from volcanoes comes from. The Lithosphere (Crust) and the Asthenosphere "float" above the mantle. The "floating" movement of the crust is what causes all those different effects to the Earth's surface.
⦁ Outer and Inner Core: The center of our planet. The core is extremely hot and dense, all the pressure and heat inside the core makes it into a colossal iron ball.
4.) Effects of Plate Tectonics: How do plate tectonics and plate movements affect the Earth's Lithosphere:
⦁ Earthquakes
⦁ Volcanoes
⦁ Mountains (above and below sea level)
⦁ Trenches (Ex: Mariana Trench)
⦁ Faults (Ex: San Andreas Fault)
⦁ Islands (Ex: Japan, Hawaii, Virgin Islands, etc.)
⦁ Tsunami (A side-effect of Earthquakes)
Enrichment At Home:
Students that do not have the proper resources at home, will be assisted to complete assignment) Students will use the "Earth's Landforms" application and a website provided by the teacher dedicated to Plate Tectonics, to research and create a diagram from any section covered in the lesson. (Plate Tectonics and the different boundaries, Earth's Layers or Landforms created by Plate Movements)
⦁ Work will be brought back to class and presented for a grade.