Big Idea: Plate tectonics is the central organizing theory of geology and is part of the explanation of every phenomena and
process observable in the geosphere. Plate tectonics influence phenomena in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and
biosphere.
Learning Targets:
- I can analyze the interactions between the major systems (geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere) that make up the Earth. ••
- I can explain, using specific examples, how a change in one system affects other Earth systems. ••
- I can describe the Earth's principal sources of internal and external energy (e.g., radioactive decay, gravity, solar energy).
- I can describe natural processes in which heat transfer in the Earth occurs by conduction, convection, and radiation. ••
- I can describe geologic, paleontologic, and paleoclimatalogic evidence that indicates Africa and South America were once part of a single continent.
- I can describe the three types of plate boundaries (divergent, convergent, and transform) and geographic features associated with them (e.g., continental rifts and mid-ocean ridges, volcanic and island arcs, deep-sea trenches, transform faults).
- I can describe the three major types of volcanoes (shield volcano, stratovolcano, and cinder cones) and their relationship to the Ring of Fire.
- I can explain how plate tectonics accounts for the features and processes (sea floor spreading, mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones, earthquakes and volcanoes, mountain ranges) that occur on or near the Earth's surface.
- I can explain why tectonic plates move using the concept of heat flowing through mantle convection, coupled with the cooling and sinking of aging ocean plates that result from their increased density. ••
- I can describe the motion history of geologic features (e.g., plates, Hawaii) using equations relating rate, time, and distance.
- I can distinguish plate boundaries by the pattern of depth and magnitude of earthquakes.
- I can use the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes to locate and determine the types of plate boundaries.
- I can describe how the sizes of earthquakes and volcanoes are measured or characterized.
- I can describe the effect of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on humans.
- I can explain how the chemical composition of magmas relates to plate tectonics and affects the geometry, structure, and explosively of volcanoes.
- I can explain how volcanoes change the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and other Earth systems.
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"Dance of the Land" Article Summary:Download, read & respond to the following article from Time Magazine, using the Article Summary Form below. Due Date 10/23/2013
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Mountains, Volcanoes & EarthquakesExplores the Earth processes that result in mountain formation, volcanoes, and earthquakes. All of these occur because of plate tectonics, the theory that states that there are plates in the Earth's lithosphere that gradually move. Mountain formation, volcanoes, and earthquakes typically occur at plate boundaries, as a result of the plates colliding, though some volcanoes occur at hot spots rather than plate boundaries.
Standard Deviants Teaching Systems: Earth Science: Module 04: Mountains, Volcanoes, and Earthquakes Cerebellum, 2013. Full Video. Discovery Education. Web. 21 October 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>. |
