Pretend you are balancing on a surfboard. Ask the students:
• “What am I doing?” Plate-riding or plate-surfing.
• “How fast am I going?” As fast as our fingernails grow, several centimetres per year.
• “In which direction am I travelling?” Towards the direction in which the plate is moving.
• “What is happening behind me?” New plate material is being formed, probably at an oceanic ridge.
• “What is happening in front of me?” You are probably heading towards a subduction zone,
“How can I tell I’m moving?” This is shown by evidence from: GPS measurements over several years; magnetic ocean floor stripes; the age of ocean floor sediments; and the lines of volcanoes produced at volcanic ‘hot spots’ like Hawaii.
Lots of Earth-related activities are FREE to download from our website.
No comments:
Post a Comment