Plate Tectonics and Landform Patterns

In this lesson, students analyze how Earth’s surface has changed over time, powered by energy from the sun and Earth’s interior. They evaluate how the locations of various landforms, including mountains, valleys, and volcanoes, occur in patterns because of how Earth’s interior layers interact and change. 

• Scientists study Earth’s structure to learn about how Earth has changed over time. 
• Like all terrestrial objects, including the terrestrial planets and moons, Earth’s surface is made up of rocks, which are mixtures of minerals.
• Earth is a dynamic planet because Earth’s internal structure causes changes on the surface over time.
• Many of Earth’s surface features and events are caused by the movement of tectonic plates.  
• There is a cause-and-effect relationship between the movement of tectonic plates and the resulting landforms and surface events. This cause-and- effect relationship causes patterns in the locations of those landforms and events.
• Tectonic plates move because they are pushed and pulled by semi-solid magma that makes up Earth’s mantle and flows in currents beneath the crust.
• Earthquakes and volcanoes often occur in similar locations because they are caused by the same forces.

• Why do minerals have different properties?
• How do tectonic plates fit into Earth’s structure?
• What is the relationship between tectonic plates, oceans, and continents?
• What surface events are caused by convergent plate boundaries? What surface events are caused by divergent plate boundaries?
• Why are mountain ranges common along the edges of the continents?
• Why do earthquakes and volcanoes often occur in similar locations?  

Convergent boundary: a plate boundary formed when two tectonic plates move toward one another perpendicular to the fault line

Divergent boundary:  a plate boundary formed when two tectonic plates move apart from one another perpendicular to the fault line

Rock cycle: the processes that form, break down, and re-form rock from one category to another

Rocks: mixed mineral matter that makes up the surface of Earth and other terrestrial objects

Sediment:  a collection of particles of rocks, minerals, and the remains of plants and animals

Tectonic plates: drifting slabs of solid rock, called plates, that make up Earth’s surface

Transform boundary: a plate boundary formed when two tectonic plates slide past each other in parallel, grinding along their sides as they move

Weathering: the breakdown of rock into smaller pieces from exposure to wind, water, gravity, changes in temperature, and/or biological forces

In this lesson, students simulate the movement of tectonic plates to observe the cause-and-effect relationship between their movement and patterns in Earth’s features. Students use their observations about the cause-and-effect relationship between tectonic plates and Earth’s features to identify and explain patterns in the locations of mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes.