Curated OER
AdVENTurous Findings on the Deep Sea Floor
Students conduct investigations to observe formations of precipitates, then create models of developing hydrothermal vents. They compare the models with the actual hydrothermal vents developing along the Galapagos Rift.
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology
Where Will Your Home Be in a Million Years?
Students will use the global velocities map to predict where their home will be in a million years.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Loma Prieta, Bay Area, Earthquake 1989
This outstanding multimedia site documents the earthquake and related events that took place on October 17, 1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: On the Road With the Faultline Project
This outstanding multimedia website follows the San Andreas fault system up the California coast from San Diego to just north of San Francisco on the coast.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Earthquake Faultline Why the Earth Shakes
This website provides an explanation of earthquakes in words and pictures, beginning with this lesson on plate tectonics.
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology
Ciese: Musical Plates: A Study of Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics
This activity has students access USGS earthquake information to plot the their locations on a world map. Doing this will help students discover for themselves the boundaries of tectonic plates.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Oceans
Seven hands-on lessons module in which students explore oceans. Inquiry-based investigations include properties of seawater, ocean water and currents, and features of the ocean floor.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Geological Oceanography
This unit will focus on the geological characteristics of the world ocean, plate tectonics, and the mapping of the ocean floor.
Indiana University
Indiana University: Evolution of Continents and Oceans
A course lecture on how the Earth's geological features have evolved through the movements of tectonic plates. Explains the different types of plate boundaries and how they manifest in geological formations. Also describes the structure...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Mountain Maker, Earth Shaker
This interactive activity adapted from A Science Odyssey Web site helps you visualize different types of plate tectonic activity and shows the impact this activity has on Earth's surface.
PBS
A Science Odyssey: You Try It: Plate Tectonics
Using your computer mouse you can simulate transforming, collisional, divergent and convergent plate boundaries. Descriptions of each plate boundary are also available.
University of California
Ucmp: Wegener (1880 1930)
Complete biographical information with links to his theories. Contains links to interactives on plate tectonics.
Story Behind the Science
Story Behind the Science: Development of a Mechanism for Continental Drift [Pdf]
Article describing the history of scientific theories about continental drift, and the major researchers involved in this work.
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: Plates on the Move
Find an interrelated set of tools--maps, animations, diagrams, photographs, and text--to help you understand tectonic plates and how they move.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Ring of Fire 1: What Volcanoes Tell Us About Plate Tectonics
The Ring of Fire is a region of volcanic and earthquake activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. In this project you can explore the connection between plate tectonics and volcanic activity by mapping historical data.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Ring of Fire 2: What Earthquakes Tell Us About Plate Tectonics
The theory of plate tectonics revolutionized geology in the 1960's. In this project you can explore the connection between plate tectonics and earthquakes by mapping historical seismic data.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Measuring the Earth's Core With Seismic Waves
When an earthquake occurs, seismic shock waves travel out through the earth from the source of the event. The shock waves travel through the earth (body waves), or along the Earth's surface (surface waves), and can be recorded at remote...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Under Pressure: Sand Under Lateral Compression
Here's a project that involves a different kind of sandbox than the ones you usually think of. This one has a moving wall inside, acting like a piston, to compress the sand. You can make layers using two different colors of sand, and...
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: The Great Continental Drift Mystery
A unit on plate tectonics designed for middle school students, this page must be read carefully to find the activities to be done in the class, but it provides a wealth of background for the teacher as well.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigation of Newtonian Forces on Plate Tectonics
An investigation for students to understand plate tectonics by using models to see how motion and forces act on the plates. Students can use these models to see the connection between Newtonian Laws to Earth materials. Lesson plan...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Analyzing Plate Motion Using Earth Scope Gps Data
In this chapter, you will access Global Positioning System (GPS) data from the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) and analyze the data in a spreadsheet to measure the motion of GPS stations in the Pacific Northwest. From your analyses, you...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Discover Our Earth
Study earthquakes, volcanoes, topography, plate tectonics, and sea level change using graphs, maps, and movies. Engage in earth science knowledge discovery, critically evaluate the data and results, and reach conclusions about the earth...
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: Plates on the Move
Explore how plates move with this interactive site. Students choose locations on the map of Earth to see if the tectonics plate are slipping, spreading, colliding, or subducting.
Geographypods
Geographypods: Theme 2: Natural Environments
A rich collection of highly engaging learning modules on topics related to the natural environment. Covers four main areas - plate tectonics, forms and processes, weather and climate, and rainforest and desert. Within each of these,...