Structure of the Earth System
Station 2 – Constructive Forces
Activity 1 Define these vocabulary words on your vocabulary sheet: Pangaea, plate
tectonics, plates, lithospheric plates, constructive forces, crustal deformation, fault
Activity 2
Go to the following site: http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=24561
Watch the 3 minute video and write and answer the following questions.
1.
What did Wegener propose as a method of explaining the close fit of the continents
on either side of the Atlantic Ocean?
2. What was so unusual about the fossil remains of Mesosaurus?
3. How did clues found in South Africa and Arctic islands support Wegener's theory of
continental drift?
4. Why wasn't Wegener's theory accepted at the time?
Activity 3
Go to the following site: http://www.kscience.co.uk/animations/pangaea.htm. Move the
lithospheric plates to represent Pangaea. Draw a rough outline on your paper that illustrates how
you completed the Pangaea puzzle.
Activity 4
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.earthsys.tectonic/tectonic-platesearthquakes-and-volcanoes/
View the interactive map. Click on the box by each choice at the top of the map and observe.
Write and answer the following questions in your science notebook:
1. What phenomena would you expect to see at each of the three different plate boundary
types?
2. What do you notice about the distribution of volcanoes?
3. What do you notice about the distribution of earthquakes?
4. Explain how volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate boundaries are related.
5. There are some volcanoes and earthquakes that are not located at plate boundaries.
How could you explain their locations?