Vocabulary
Earth’s outermost layer of hard, solid rock that is underneath the soil, vegetation, and water
Outer Layer
What is a cross section?
a diagram that shows what the inside of something looks like
plates moving toward the same place
Convergent boundaries
the place where two plates meet
Plate boundary
What major landform did we discuss being found at convergent boundaries?
Trench
Plates moving away from each other
Divergent boundaries.
an underwater mountain range formed when two plates move apart
Mid-ocean ridge
Can we find gaps between the plates? Why?
At divergent plate boundaries, rock rises from the mantle and...
hardens, adding new solid rock to the edges of both plates.
the layer of soft, solid rock underneath Earth's plates
Mantle
Why do Earthquakes and volcanoes occur in similar areas
because they are at plate boundaries where the plates are moving
There are two continents with an ocean between them. Today, the continents have very different plants and animals on them. However, a geologist found fossils of the same type of organism on both continents. Millions of years ago, when this type of organism was alive, we know it lived in only one place. The geologist is using the fossils as evidence to argue that the two continents used to be touching. How could the continents have gotten so far apart, and how long did it take for this to happen?
The student indicates that continents are parts of plates. Plates are made of hard, solid rock, they make up Earth’s entire outer layer, and they move. AND explains that as plates move away from each other, soft, solid rock from underneath the plates rises and hardens, adding solid rock to the edges of both plates. AND explains that plates travel at a rate too slow to be experienced by humans and that it takes a long time for plates to travel great distances.
one of the very large sections of hard, solid rock that make up Earth’s outer layer
Plate
What rate do plates move every year?
about 2cm/year
A team of geologists learned from GPS data that two continents that have an ocean between them are moving toward each other. Diego’s little brother hears this and cannot believe that continents can move and is worried that those two continents are going to run into each other. How would you explain to him what is happening?
Earth’s entire outer layer is made of hard, solid rock. This outer layer is divided into plates. Continents are parts of the plates, and the plates move. The two continents are on different plates that are moving toward each other, which means there is a convergent plate boundary between these two plates. At this convergent plate boundary, one plate moves underneath the other and sinks into the soft, solid mantle.