This snackable plate tectonics lab provides the perfect combination of science rigor and fun. Draw a sketch to illustrate your answers to 4a and 4b. Immediately remove the crackers and lay them end to end on the frosting with the wet edges. Each piece of graham cracker represents a continental plate. This activity breaks the information up and provides a differentiated learning approach. I use a version similar to this free version of graham cracker tectonics provided by. Dip one end of each of the two graham crackers into a cup of water. Graham cracker plate tectonics this quick and tasty kids science activity gives little scientists a hands on way to explore plate tectonics the movement of the earths crust that leads to the formation of volcanoes, mountains, and oceanic trenches.
Phet sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, gamelike environment where students learn through exploration and discovery. Activities include dating the initiation of seafloor spreading, determining the sense of offset on transform faults. Students will perform an edible plate tectonics lab and start their graphic organizer. The icing should cover an area large enough for a whole graham cracker. The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate interactions of plate boundaries. I have copied the picture and information for continental drift front to back, and the picture and information for plate tectonics front to back. Label drawing as to what each item represents in terms of earth layers or processes of plate tectonics. This is a nice way to teach plate tectonics to high school students. Students will use shaving cream and graham crackers to simulate the three types of plate boundaries transform, divergent, and convergent. Give each pair of students one long graham cracker broken in half. After learning about plate tectonics, students will model how plates move when a prompt is given. Spread a thick layer of frosting on the paper plate.
To represent the natural world by creating models and analyzing their limitations. The theory of plate tectonics activityworksheet example answers 3 volcanoes volcanoes occur along hot zones at plate boundaries underground volcanoes are seamounts a line of seafloor volcanoes indicates the direction a tectonic plate is moving 8. Graham cracker plate tectonics playdough to plato this quick and tasty kids science activity gives little scientists a hands on way to explore plate tectonics the movement of the earths crust that leads to the formation of volcanoes, mountains, and oceanic trenches. Have students use the living lab resources to complete the worksheet research, filling in the graphic organizer chart and sketching future continental movement. Name date class period snack tectonics lab exercise. Check out the plate tectonics module if you are not sure which type of boundary is two plates moving apart. Approximately1 foot by 1 foot square of wax paper knife frosting glob approximately 14 cup or 1 heaping glob full graham cracker fruit rollup dixie or 23 oz cup with water napkin, paper towel, or baby wipes procedure. To identify and demonstrate the forces that shape the features of the earth 2.
The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of seven major. The theory of plate tectonics provides geology with a comprehensive theory that explains how the earth works. Access the answers to hundreds of plate tectonics questions that are explained in a way thats easy for you to understand. The theory also states that the motion of these plates. These plates ride on the hot plastic upper mantle called the asthenosphere. The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 16 major pieces or plates. What is the process that creates new ocean floor from diverging plates. Break the graham cracker on its seam to make 2 rectangles and place the 2 rectangles, touching, on top of the frosting. Plate tectonics lab station activity teach science. To study the interactions of the tectonic plates as they move slowly on the asthenosphere.
Learn how earths tectonic plates interact in this delicious activity. Plate tectonics suggests that large features on earths surface, such as continents, ocean basins, and mountain ranges, result from interactions along the edges of large plates of earths outer shell. Graham cracker plate tectonics plate tectonics, earth. Observe what is happening to the marshmallow spread. Unit 5 covers standards relating to earths systems. This graham cracker plate tectonics lesson plan is suitable for 7th 10th grade. To model the interactions of earths tectonic plates as they move about its surface. Plate tectonicsgraham cracker lab by junior high school. In this activity, ocean plates are represented by fruit roll ups and continental crust is represented by graham crackers. These plates ride on the hot plastic upper mantle known as the asthenosphere. Every ten seconds, push the graham crackers closer to each other.
These plates move on the top of the hot plastic upper mantle known as the asthenosphere. Graham cracker plate tectonics lab just a little info the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of seven major plates and numerous smaller plates. Kimberly miller printed on 101717 edible plate tectonics lab sheet purpose. In addition, some plates may appear to be inactivity. I am leaving this as a free idea because it has a spel. Plate tectonics strand earth patterns, cycles, and change topic investigating plate tectonics primary sol 5. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, andor atmosphere interact. For this activity, i grabbed a box of graham crackers, some cool whip, and a plate. Gently put the wet cracker section and a dry cracker section on the layer of frosting. Identify the type of boundary associated with each picture below.
Oreo cookie plate tectonics kyrene school district. Graham cracker based plate tectonic boundaries lab. Buy wax paper, knives, frosting, fruit rollups, and graham crackers. Draw what your food looks like after you created the transform boundary in the space provided 4. Founded in 2002 by nobel laureate carl wieman, the phet interactive simulations project at the university of colorado boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. Plate movement directly affects the destruction of earths surface because the more dense plates sink causing a trench where the plates are thoroughly destroyed.
In this plate tectonics activity, students analyze the tectonics of a simple fabricated flat planet called geoworld that features continents with ancient mountain ranges, oceans complete with magnetic stripes and a hotspot volcanic chain, an island arc and a trench. Break the last whole graham cracker in half and place the 2 halves side to side on top of the frosting. Images showing what natural disastersgeographical landforms occur at each boundary. The ultimate science bundle plate tectonics unit bundle continental drift wactivity major tectonic plates the ring of fire activity. Dip one end of each of the two graham crackers into a cup of. Does anyone have a copy of the lab report he refers to throughout the video. Key concepts include e changes in earths crust due to plate tectonics.
Have students write down the other students answers in the appropriate column. Spread a thin layer of frosting on another quarter of your paper plate. The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7. Students can model plates creating subduction zones, the creations of vault lines, and the creation of new crust. This theory also says that most of these plates are in. At the stations they will learn about tectonic plates, plate boundaries, earthquakes, major plates, and seafloor spreading. These plates move on the top of the hot plastic upper. Reuse the graham cracker used above for this activity. At the plate boundaries, plates may converge collide, diverge separate, or slide past each other in a lateral motion transform. Though alfred wegener was the first to suggest the theory of continental drift and plate tectonics in 1915, it wasnt widely accepted until the 1960s and 1970s as new information was obtained about the nature of the ocean floor, earths magnetism, the distribution of volcanoes and.
Place the graham crackers on opposite sides of the plate. What happens with the whipped cream between the graham crackers as you drag them apart. Once the graham crackers have touched each other, note how the marshmallow spreading is a different shape than it was at the start of the experiment. Plate boundaries are found at the edge of the plates. Review their answers to assess their base knowledge of the topic. Break one whole graham cracker into two square pieces by following the perforations. Movements deep within the earth, which carry heat from the hot interior to the cooler surface, cause the plates to move very slowly on the surface, about 2 inches per year on average. For the mesh or screen, a roll of no slip shelf liner works well. Plate tectonics lab activity the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7 major plates and numerous smaller plates. Plate movements introduction the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of less than twenty separate plates that float on the hot plastic mantle of the inner earth. Plate tectonics lab doral academy preparatory school. Each piece of graham crackers represents a continental plate.
What type of plate was represented by the graham cracker. Swbat describe the impact that plate tectonics have on the topography of earth. Plate boundary description landformsfeatures materials. However, the version i prefer includes the use of a rice crispy treat to illustrate oceanic vs. For this plate tectonics worksheet, students use graham crackers, frosting, water and a paper plate to simulate tectonic processes such as convergent, divergent and transforming plate boundaries. During the prelab, learners experience three types of plate movement through a kinesthetic demonstration. Each student will need a copy of handout b, the graham cracker chewing gum lab handout, and the data sheet for handout b see attached documents. This theory also says that most of these plates are in motion, creating. Schaefer the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7 major plates and numerous smaller plates. Spread frosting on wax paper to cover an area a bit larger than the graham cracker square. Convergent places where plates crash or push together. To understand how plate boundaries interact with each other and the features created as they drift atop the slow moving asthenosphere.
To introduce, model, and demonstrate how earths plates move. Students use graham crackers and icing to represent and observe how tectonic plates behave. Exploring the movement of tectonic plates with smores. Plate tectonics graham cracker lab by science station tpt. This activity can be done using edible ingredients like graham crackers or cookies for plates and cool whip or pudding for magma. Copy of the plate tectonic exit ticket for each student. What physical layer of the earth did the frosting represent. Take two pieces of dry crackers and place them side by side on the frosting. As part of your plate tectonics activity, answer the questions below. Images showing what natural disasters geographical landforms occur at each boundary. This video walks through the gram cracker plate tectonics lab. What happened to the frosting between the crackers. A set of first grade geology lessons focuses on plate tectonics and movement of plate boundaries. Graham cracker plate tectonics lesson plan for 7th 10th.
The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7 major plates and numerous smaller plates. The graham crackers represent the earths crust, which is broken up into plates. Plate movement directly affects the construction of earths surface because the land recycles and creates new crust by divergent plates. In this lab activity, what type of plate was represented by the fruit rollup. The students should be divided into partner groups for this portion of the lesson. Model the plates movements using frosting and graham crackers to.
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