Planet Earth

Earth's Outer Layer, Plate Boundaries, and Plate Movement 

Teachers: Make a copy of this AQ to make changes and/or fix broken links! Email angiegallacher@gmail.com for a changeable copy! 

NGSS: MS-ESS2-1: Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

MS-ESS2-2.: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.

MS-ESS2-3. : Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. 

Part 1 (3-4 hours) 

Google Doc:  Make a copy of the Google Doc to record your answers or use the Google Doc in your Teachers Google Classroom. 

Edpuzzle: Click on the picture to complete the Edpuzzle. 

Plate Tectonics Webquest

Earth's Outer Core

“Crust” describes  the outermost shell of a ____________ planet. Our planet’s thin, 40-kilometer (25-mile) deep crust—just __% of Earth’s mass—contains all known life in the universe. Earth has _________ layers: the ________, the ________, and the _______. The crust is made of solid _______ and __________. Beneath the crust is the __________, which is also mostly solid ________ and _________, but punctuated by malleable areas of semi-solid __________. At the center of the Earth is a hot, dense ________   _________.

a. The Earth crust which is divided into plates moves about _____________ inches in a year. 

b. Why do scientists talk about the mantle as a kind of weather system? 

c. What is a superplume? 

d. What do scientists propose that these superplumes may be responsible for? 




Part 2 

Google Doc:  Make a copy of the Google Doc to record your answers or use the Google Doc in your Teachers Google Classroom. 

Learn about Earth’s History by Observing Rock Formations and Fossils. 

Clarification Statement:  Examples of evidence from patterns could include rock layers with marine shell fossils above rock

layers with plant fossils and no shells, indicating a change from land to water over time; and, a canyon with different rock layers in

the walls and a river in the bottom, indicating that over time a river cut through the rock.