Inside the Earth: Plate Tectonic Webquest

Directions:

• To begin your webquest, make sure you have a copy of the worksheet that comes along with the webquest.
  • Mr. Fuhs should have a copy of the worksheet.
• Once you have successfully copied the worksheet, add your last name to the beginning of the title of the document.
• Next, share the document with Mr. Fuhs (mfuhs@warrick.k12.in.us)

• Finally, begin working on your worksheet using a combination of the resources on this page, as well as your book. 

Part 1: Earth's Interior

Earth is many thousand kilometers in depth. If you could travel deep into the Earth's surface you would find it contains three main layers: the crust, the mantle and the core. To learn more about the layers of Earth, click on the following links and answer the questions that follow:

 

• Earth Layers Interface
• Earth Guide Interactive Animation
• Volcano World
• Formation of Earth's layers...   How do we know what we do about the structure of the Earth?
• Earth Layers

Part 2: Convection Currents and the Mantle

Heat transfer is the movement of heat from a warmer object to a cooler object. There are three ways in which heat can be transferred: conduction, convection and radiation. Click on the links below and answer the questions that follow.

• Convection, Conduction and Radiation (Try the link to the review game) 
• Heat Transfer
• The Mantle

Part 3: Drifting Continents

The theory of Continental Drift originated with the German scientist Alfred Wegener. He proposed that there was once a super continent called Pangaea. Wegener proposed that over time, the continents drifted apart, but he couldn't show how this happened. Read through the following links to learn about Wegener's theory of Continental Drift.

• Continental Drift
• More on Wegener @ Berkeley

Part 4: Sea-Floor Spreading

The movement of plates caused by convection currents causes both constructive and destructive forces beneath the ocean floor. To learn more about this topic, click on the link below and answer the questions that follow:

• Sea-Floor Spreading
• Earth Guide Animation
• Paleomagnitism earth guide interactive animation 

Part 5: The Theory of Plate Tectonics

The Theory of Plate Tectonics was formulated in the 1960s and 1970s when new information became available about the Earth's interior. To learn more, click on the links below, read the web pages and answer the questions that follow.

• • Plate Tectonics
  • Convergent Boundaries
  • Divergent Boundaries
  • Transform Boundaries

Make sure that you've answered all of the web quest questions, neatly.  Complete sentences would be nice!