Plate Tectonics Lessons

A collection of slides supporting 2 40-minute classes introducing students to the structure of the Earth and the movement of tectonic plates. The slides are created using PowerPoint.

The lesson topics are as ordered:

• The basic structure of the Earth, before going into detail analysing the crust, the mantle, and the core.
• A map of the Earth’s tectonic plates with prompting questions which encourages students to further expand the information they have just learned on the Earth’s structure.
• An analysis of what tectonic plates are.
• An examination of how convection currents operate and how they impact the Earth’s crust. This is supported by an already chosen YouTube video which illustrates how convection currents move tectonic plates.
• An analysis of destructive, constructive, and passive plate boundaries.

Explanation
This PowerPoint presentation was created as an introductory lesson into Plate Tectonics. Students are introduced to how the Earth is structured and the processes of tectonic plates, this can be followed by lessons addressing volcanoes, earthquakes, and fold mountains. The slides are made to provide visual prompts which support 1 to 2 40-minute lessons. These slides have a variety of activities including independent thinking time, classroom discussions, written work, research prompts, and video analysations.

Differentiation

• Questions prompted in the slides encourage students to develop their ability to think about how world processes operate and impact each other.
• Slides are made using Comic Book Sans.
• Slides are designed with a variety of imagery and vocab.
• Complex ideas are supported with YouTube videos. This varies the ways in which students are learning and helps them visualise large ideas and processes.