Plate Tectonics

Betty Szekely and Kylie Ford

Earth’s Crust: The outermost layer of the Earth, broken into

tectonic plates

Earth’s Mantle: Layer of Earth underneath the crust that flows and

makes the tectonic plates move

Plate Boundaries: Where tectonic plates meet

Graham Cracker Plate Tectonics

• You will need:

• Paper plate with cool whip

• Four whole graham crackers (broken in half)

• A cup of water

Transform Boundaries

The San Andreas Fault in California is one example of a transform boundary.

Divergent Boundaries

An example of a divergent boundary is the East African Rift Valley.

Convergent Boundaries

An example of a convergent boundary is found on the western coast of South America.

Subduction Zone

A subduction zone is the cause of the Aleutian Islands.

Questions

• Which plate boundary causes the crust to grind against each other as they move past each other in opposite directions?

• Which plate boundary causes the crust to move away from one another?

• Which plate boundary causes the crust to collide, causing mountains to form?

• What happens in a subduction zone?

Answers

• Transform

• Divergent

• Convergent

• Denser oceanic plates thrust under less dense continental plates