Teaching Plate Tectonics

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Plate Tectonics Study Guide

I used to think having a study guide to base your lesson on was a good thing. I don't anymore. There are scads of better ways to introduce material. I use PowerPoints with FollowSheets, Cut-and-Paste FactSheets, or a puzzle of some sort. If you are still wanting to use a Study Guide, click here for my version.

"Show Me the Answer" White Board Game

Review parts of the Study Guide, FactSheet, or PowerPoint by putting students into small teams. (I use six or seven "Color" teams.) Each team uses their white board to answer a teacher question. They keep their white boards hidden until the teachers says, "Show me the Answer!" Then they raise them high. Every team gets a point if correct. Great fun!

Videos on Plate Tectonics

I have recently discovered Teachers' Domain. Sponsored by WGBH, a public television station in Boston. It's free to join. Has many great video clips. Also Flash Animations, lesson plans, images, etc. You can make folders for the things you like and "call them up" whenever you want to project using your Computer Projection System or SMART Board. Very cool!

New! Earth's Layers Foldable


This is consistently my students' favorite Foldable because it is DIFFICULT to make and they take it on as a challenge! The process of making this Foldable teaches the concepts!  Especially if you have them use it to answer the accompanying worksheet questions.

Click here.
New! Earth's Interior PowerPoint Click here for this PowerPoint. It coordinates with the above Foldable and Questions. Great follow-up after your students have made the Foldable and answered the questions. Make sure they have their foldable out during the PPT and are looking at each corresponding layer. REMEMBER:  Students don't learn concepts by MAKING the Foldable but by USING the Foldable, THINKING about the Foldable!!

Continental Drift Lab

Our state achievement test always asks a "Wegener's evidence" question. There are several versions of good Continental Drift Labs available. I would recommend a hands-on lab where the students cut out the continents and assemble Pangaea using the evidence on each plate. Click here for my version, minus the copyrighted plate images. Another way to do this lab is to provide your students with blank continents/plates and have them color in the evidence from textbook/booklets, etc. Then assemble Pangaea using the evidence.

New! Plate Boundaries Cootie Catcher Introduce the four main types of plate boundaries with this very engaging "Cootie Catcher." Kids nowadays call it a "Fortune Teller." My kids and I had a great conversation about how we called if by a different name depending on what generation we were. They loved the name Cootie Catcher. Many of them hadn't heard that before. Click here.
New! Plate Boundaries Cootie Catcher Quiz Quiz the four main types of plate boundaries with this Quiz. I let the students use their Cootie Catcher during the Quiz. Make a blank chart and have them fill it out using the Cootie Catcher.

REMEMBER:  Students don't learn concepts by MAKING the Foldable but by USING the Foldable, THINKING about the Foldable!!

Types of Plate Boundaries Worksheet

Review the three main types of boundaries with your students. Click here for my version. Others are around or make your own!

Types of Plate Boundaries Skit

Divide your students into three groups. Each group is given the task of developing a skit illustrating their assigned boundary: diverging, converging, or transform/sliding. You can add further requirements such as: show movement of magma/lava, show resulting features, show direction of movement. Video tape the presentations.

Crustal (Lithospheric) Plates Worksheet

I use one prepared by my textbook company. Click here for a simple version. I ask my students to color and label the 7 major plates, and label the minor plates. Click here for some "basic" questions to answer.

Plate Tectonics Lab

Click here for my version minus the copyrighted plate images with evidence. This one has students relate type of plate boundaries (diverging, converging, sliding) with the types of features resulting and discusses the expanding/contracting of the Atlantic/Pacific. Wraps up the unit, so to speak.

Plate Tectonics Vocabulary

Click here for a Cut-and-Paste Vocabulary Worksheet.

 © Copyright 2007.  M. J. Krech. All rights reserved. 
          

| Mrs. Krech's Student Pages| Science Teaching Ideas Home Page | Active Learning Games & Puzzles | Classroom Management |
| Advice for the New Teacher| Newsletter Archives | Newsletter Index | How to Write a Good Science Lesson | Earth Science PowerPoints |

|
Teaching Science Safety | Teaching Mineral Identification | Teaching the Rock Cycle | Teaching Weathering, Erosion, & Deposition |
|Teaching the Metric System
| Teaching Water Systems | Teaching Plate Tectonics | Teaching Earthquakes | Teaching Volcanoes |
 | Teaching Experimental Design
| Teaching Geologic History | Teaching Weather & Climate | Teaching Clouds | Teaching Astronomy |

Mrs. Marcia Krech
URL: http://www.mmjksciteachingideas.com/plate.html
Email:
mjkrech@yahoo.com
Date Last Modified: 10/14/2007