Sequence | Background | Objectives | Materials | Activity | Extensions | Evaluations

TOPIC-TITLE Plate Tectonics - Ocean Topography AUTHOR Cynthia Louden Carolyn Elliott Karen Jardine Kimberly Dernowski GRADE SUITABILITY Middle School SCOPE Geological Oceanography

Sequence This activity should follow a discussion of plate tectonics. < < go top

Background Summary The Earth's surface is divided into separate plates that move and influence global topography. Sea floor spreading is responsible for the "breakup" of the super continent, Pangaea, and is responsible for the creation of mountains, earthquakes, and volcanoes. < < go top Objectives Students will locate major plate boundaries based on topographic features. < < go top Materials Paper Pencil Blank world map Topographic/physiographic map of the world Map of fictitious planet Materials for presentations, such as transparencies Poster board Markers < < go top Activity Place students into cooperative learning groups (two students per group). Provide each group with a blank map and a physiographic map. The students will then identify plate boundary locations. Next, the students are to research whether these are converging, diverging, or transforming plates based on the information from the topographic map and knowledge of land forms associated with each type of plate boundary. Students should then draw their predicted boundaries on the blank map with converging boundaries in red, diverging boundaries in blue and transform boundaries in green. Arrows should be drawn on each plate to indicate the direction of plate movement. Each group could then discuss its results with another group and critique each predicted boundary map. At the conclusion of class, the instructor should present the actual map of plate boundaries on an overhead for the students to check the accuracy of their predictions. The class could then engage in a discussion of plate boundaries and the effects of plate configuration on the composition of the Earth in the future. Re-divide students into cooperative learning groups (four students per group). Provide each group with a map of a hypothetical planet. The map contains plates with motion speeds and directions. It also contains the boundaries of four countries. Students must draw topographical features that would occur at each plate boundary. The features must correspond to the directions of plate movement of the adjacent plates. Each student must then take one of the four countries and describe the country in a brief report. This description should include topographic and tectonic features of the area. Students must add a paragraph at the conclusion of the paper describing the manner in which the topography affected the development of the political and cultural infrastructure of the inhabitants. Each group must discuss the countries of its planet and improve its report. Each group can then make an oral presentation to the class about its respective country. < < go top Possible Extension Students can prepare a publicity poster and travel brochures for their countries and develop a governmental system for their countries. The different groups should interact, just as representatives of different governments interact. This interaction could be based on a problem, such as earthquake activity, that might affect all the groups. < < go top Teacher Evaluation Give students pre- and posttests. Administer a rubric in advance, then use it as a guide for grading. Assess student performance during oral presentations. Administer an additional rubric, then use it as a guide for grading. < < go top