Activity

What Drives the Plates?

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

It's getting hot in here! Lead your emerging geoscientists on a thrilling journey as they calculate liquid densities to determine forces that stimulate thermal plates from within the earth's crust. They explore effects of temperature on a material's density and examine the earth's natural heat flow and discuss uneven areas of heating inside the earth's inner core.

117 Views 108 Downloads
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
  • Encourage the class to participate in a show and tell by bringing in local rock samples to determine densities
  • Divide the class into groups to research changes within the earth's crust over the past million years
Classroom Considerations
  • Ensure pupils follow safety precautions when handling and heating corn syrup to avoid severe burns
Pros
  • Hands-on application fosters learning through the completion of exciting activities
  • The resource builds off of the previous lesson to provide continual learning in the area of Earth science
Cons
  • Document permissions do not allow for printing