Week 10: Convection, Plate Boundaries, and Layers of Earth

 1. What did you do in lab today?

Why do we have earthquakes & volcanoes not on boundaries?

• Ancient fault lines
• At one point Iowa was at the edge of the continent, could've been a fault line
• Fracking
• drilling of natural gas and oil 
• this could have an effect of an earthquake due to stress

Convection Currents 

• Surface currents carry warmer, less dense water from the equator to the poles
• water from deep currents rise to replace water, leaving in surface currents
• warm water from surface currents replaces colder, denser water that sinks to the ocean floor
• coldest water: the poles
• Warmest water: equator
• arctic waters come down to equator, heat up, then goes back up
• 
  

Alfred Wegener

• Because the earth was spinning the continents were moving --> this is what he based it on 
• not strong enough to bring continents together or apart (was laughed at)

Layers of the Earth

• Crust: outer layer of earth
• Mantle: convection is happening
• Core: inner most part of Earth --> very hot 
• Core is made of Iron and Nickel

Plate Boundaries Lab

• Divergent Boundary: When 2 plates are pulled apart
• Real Life examples: Mid-Atlantic ridge, Atlantic ocean
• Transform Boundary: When 2 plates slide past each other
• Real Life examples: San Andreas Fault, California
• Convergent Boundary: When 2 plates collide
• Real Life Example: Himalaya mountains, India
• Subduction: when 1 plate "dives" under another
• Real Life example: Pacific ring of fire

divergent boundary 

transform boundary

 Subduction convergent boundary

 Convergent Boundary

2. What was the big question? How does the movement of Earth's plates shape the planet?

3. What did you learn in Thursday's discussion? 

Notes

• Earthquakes - Plate Tectonics
• What causes Earthquakes to have different levels of power?
• Will there ever be a big enough earthquake to shake the whole world?
• What happens underwater as earthquakes happen? 
• Could an earthquake really cause the world to fall in on itself like some movies depict?
• Do earthquakes occur in predictable areas?
• Do earthquakes get more frequent with the rise of global warming?
• Volcanoes - Plate Tectonics
• Is there a volcano powerful enough that it could destroy our continent/parts of the earth?
• Does lava flow in the oceans that affect aquatic life?
• How does volcano ash preserve things underneath it?
• Do volcanoes have predictable areas? 
• How do we know when a volcano is going to erupt again?
• Media and Science Plate Tectonics
• Nothing could handle the pressure or temperature of inside a trench like in Nemo 
• Trenches are formed by a subduction between 2 plates
• Plate Tectonics
• Plates can converge and come together --> trench
• Plates can pull apart and diverge --> Ocean ridge 
• Everywhere we find mountains we learn more about plate tectonics 
• What have we learned?
• Geologic Time: 
• Rocks and rock cycle
• geodes
• Law of Superposition
• Sand 
• fossils
• erosion/weathering
• earthquakes/volcanoes/hot spots 
• layers of the earth, convection cells, plate tectonics

4. Read online textbook, chapter 10:

- What did you learn? 

• Plate tectonics is the unifying theory explaining the movement of Earth's lithospheric plates.

• These movements are responsible for geological phenomena like earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain formation, and ocean trench development.

• The Earth's crust is divided into major and minor plates that float atop the semi-fluid asthenosphere.

• Plate boundaries can be divergent, convergent, or transform, each producing distinct geological activity.

- What was most helpful? 

• The clear breakdown of different plate boundaries and their associated features (ex: mid-ocean ridges at divergent boundaries, subduction zones at convergent boundaries).

• The emphasis on how plate tectonics connects to real-world events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, making it easier to relate science content to students' lived experiences.

• The pedagogical framing for elementary science instruction, including inquiry-based approaches and modeling ideas.

- What do you need more information on?

• How to scaffold plate tectonics for younger learners, especially visual models or hands-on activities that make abstract concepts concrete.

• Strategies for integrating student identity and storytelling into earth science lessons (ex: connecting tectonic activity to cultural stories or local geography).

• More examples of formative assessment prompts or routines that support reasoning and explanation in this unit.

5. What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have? How can I help students visualize plate movement in a way that feels tangible and memorable?