Earth's Outer Layer
What is Earth's thin, outermost solid layer called?
What is the crust?
What is the place where two tectonic plates meet called?
What is a plate boundary?
What natural event causes the ground to shake when rocks suddenly slip along a fault?
What is an earthquake?
What is a scientific model used for?
To represent, explain, or predict how something works.
What is a sample of rock taken from underground called?
What is a core sample?
What are the large pieces of Earth's outer rigid layer called?
What are tectonic plates?
What type of boundary occurs when two plates move apart?
What is a divergent boundary?
What forms when magma reaches Earth's surface and erupts?
What is A volcanic eruption, (which can build a volcano.)
What do arrows on a tectonic plate model usually show?
The direction of plate movement.
What can scientists learn by studying rock samples?
They can learn about the rock's age and history.
what are the earths first two layers? (lithosphere)
The crust and the rigid uppermost mantle.
What type of boundary occurs when two plates move toward each other?
What is a convergent plate boundary?
What major landform can form where two continental plates collide?
What is a mountain range?
If two plates move away from each other in a model, what kind of boundary is shown?
A divergent boundary.
Why do scientists collect evidence instead of just guessing what is inside Earth?
Evidence helps them develop and test explanations supported by observations.
What is the difference between the crust and the mantle?
The crust is made up of hard solid rock and the mantle is made up of soft, solid rock.
What landform occurs when two plate move away from each other?
What is a mid-ocean ridge?
What underwater feature can form where two plates move apart and new oceanic crust develops?
What is a mid-ocean ridge?
Why should scientists compare a model's predictions with real-world evidence?
To see whether the model explains observations accurately or needs to be revised.
If two rock samples have similar properties, what can scientists investigate next?
Whether the rocks formed under similar conditions or share a geological history.
Why can tectonic plates move even though they are made of solid rock?
What happens when two plate push toward one another?
One plate is pushed into the mantle and destroyed while the other is pushed on top.
Why do many earthquakes and volcanoes occur near plate boundaries?
Plate interactions can cause rocks to break and slip, plates to subduct, and magma to rise toward the surface.
Scientists find that ocean-floor rocks are youngest near a mid-ocean ridge and older farther away. What does this pattern support?
Seafloor spreading: new oceanic crust forms near the ridge and moves outward as the plates separate. causing the younger crust to be near the ocean ridge.
Why might scientists need several different types of evidence to explain Earth's structure?
Different evidence provides different information, and multiple sources can help test whether an explanation is reliable.