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Science lesson plan · 7th grade (Year 8 in England) · 30 minutes

Plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes

Earth and rocks

CCSS NGSS.MS-ESS2-3CCSS NGSS.MS-ESS3-2CCSS NGSS.HS-ESS2-1England: KS3 Chemistry: Earth and atmosphere

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: The structure of the Earth

Leads to: Types of plate boundary and the landforms they make; Measure earthquakes and reduce their risks

Materials: Rock samples, Hand lenses, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (The structure of the Earth). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. What is the Earth's core mainly made of? (iron and nickel / gold / water / rock and soil) → iron and nickelPrompt: It is metallic and very dense.
  2. Earth's structure: which statement is NOT true? (The inner core is solid. / The crust is made of rock. / The Earth is hollow. / Temperature increases as you go deeper into the Earth.) → The Earth is hollow.Prompt: Is the mantle really a sea of liquid?
  3. Which layer of the Earth is liquid? (the outer core / the crust / all of them / the inner core) → the outer corePrompt: The inner core is solid because of huge pressure.

Hook · 3 min

  • Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
  • Share the objective: Plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Who first proposed that the continents drift?
  • Step 1: Wegener's continental drift (1912) was later explained by plate tectonics.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: Alfred Wegener
  • Answer: Alfred Wegener
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. What drives the slow movement of tectonic plates? (ocean waves / convection currents in the mantle / the Moon's light / the wind) → convection currents in the mantlePrompt: Heat from the core makes the mantle rock move slowly.
  2. Two plates move apart at about 2 cm per year. How far apart will they move in 10 000 years, in kilometres? (1 km = 100 000 cm) → 0.2 kmPrompt: First find the distance in cm.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Plate tectonics: which statement is NOT true? (The Earth's crust is broken into large pieces called tectonic plates. / The continents have always been where they are now. / Plates move a few centimetres each year. / Mountains such as the Himalayas formed where plates collided.) → The continents have always been where they are now.Prompt: How fast do your fingernails grow? Plates move at about that speed.
  2. Who first proposed that the continents drift? (Charles Darwin / Alfred Wegener / Isaac Newton / Galileo Galilei) → Alfred WegenerPrompt: He noticed that South America and Africa fit together like a jigsaw.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: The structure of the Earth.
  • Use concrete materials: rock samples.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Types of plate boundary and the landforms they make; Measure earthquakes and reduce their risks.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-7.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    What evidence suggests the continents were once joined?

    • A. all continents are the same size
    • B. the same weather on every continent
    • C. matching fossils and rock layers on continents far apart
    • D. the oceans are salty

  2. Question 2

    Two plates move apart at about 2 cm per year. How far apart will they move in 100 000 years, in kilometres? (1 km = 100 000 cm)

    Answerkm

  3. Question 3

    Plate tectonics: which statement is NOT true?

    • A. Mountains such as the Himalayas formed where plates collided.
    • B. Plates move a few centimetres each year.
    • C. Volcanoes only form in hot countries.
    • D. The Earth's crust is broken into large pieces called tectonic plates.

  4. Question 4

    What drives the slow movement of tectonic plates?

    • A. ocean waves
    • B. the Moon's light
    • C. convection currents in the mantle
    • D. the wind

  5. Question 5

    Two plates move apart at about 4 cm per year. How far apart will they move in 1 000 000 years, in kilometres? (1 km = 100 000 cm)

    Answerkm

  6. Question 6

    Two plates move apart at about 2.5 cm per year. How far apart will they move in 1 000 000 years, in kilometres? (1 km = 100 000 cm)

    Answerkm

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Answer key: Plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes

  1. 1. C. matching fossils and rock layers on continents far apart

  2. 2. 2 km

  3. 3. C. Volcanoes only form in hot countries.

  4. 4. C. convection currents in the mantle

  5. 5. 40 km

  6. 6. 25 km