I teach this unit in conjunction with the GEMS unit "Plate Tectonics"

 

Enduring Understandings: 

• Lithospheric plates on the scale of continents and oceans constantly move. 

• Major geological events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result from these plate motions. 

• Some changes in the earth’s surface are abrupt (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) while other changes happen very slowly (such as uplift and wearing down of mountains). 

• The theory of plate tectonics was once a new idea; it is now widely accepted by most scientists because of the evidence that has been collected which supports it.

• The intense heat of the earth’s core is responsible for the movement of the tectonic plates.

• Over millions of years the continuous movement of the Earth causes the continents (landmasses) to merge and divide repeatedly. 

 

Essential Question(s): 

 

• How does the movement of lithospheric plates cause major events on Earth’s surface? 

• How did the theory of plate tectonics evolve?

• What is the mechanism that drives the movement of the continents?  What is its fuel?

• What allows the continents to move?

• What evidence supports the theory of plate tectonics?

• Why did competent scientists reject the idea of continental drift?

• Why is this theory a revolution?

• How have recent advances in Geology proven/disproven Wegener's Theory? 

• In what way do plate tectonics affect geological events? 

• What landforms and surface features are generated along plate boundaries? 

 

 

Standards:

 

NGSS

• ESS2.B: Plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions - Plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains movements of rocks at Earth’s surface and geological history; Maps are used to display evidence of plate movement.

 

CCSS

ELA/Literacy

• RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

• RST.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

• RST.6-8.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant togrades 6–8 texts and topics.

• RST.6-8.7 Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table). 

• RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.

• WHST.6-8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. 

• WHST.6-8.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. 

• SL.8.5 Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points. 

 

 

Mathematics

• MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively. 

• 6.NS.C.5 Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values (e.g., temperature above/below zero, elevation above/below sea level, credits/debits, positive/negative electric charge); use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation. 

• 6.EE.B.6 Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set. 

• 7.EE.B.4 Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities.