The theory was formulated in the 1960s and 1970s as new information was obtained about the nature of the ocean floor, earths. Learn how earths tectonic plates interact in this delicious activity. Based on various earth science lessons taught at st. Exploring the movement of tectonic plates with smores. Spread frosting on wax paper to cover an area a bit larger than the graham cracker square. Dec 04, 2011 slather a considerable amount of marshmallow spread onto a plate. Place a spoonful of frosting on the wax paper for each pair of students. An added benefit to the drawing with the presentation is that students go home with a reference to the lesson learned. Observe what is happening to the marshmallow spread.
This graham cracker plate tectonics lesson plan is suitable for 7th 10th grade. Most landforms are made over a very long time through slow processes. Youth use graham crackers and pudding to model tectonic plate movement. Wax paper, graham crackers, rice crispy treats, water, plastic knives academic vocabulary. What can you do with fruit rollups, graham crackers and frosting in your science class. My 5 year old instantly recognized this boundary as its what led to the formation of all the volcanic mountains that surround us. The students should be divided into partner groups for this portion of the lesson. Gently push the continent graham cracker towards the ocean plate fruit roll up until the two overlap and the graham cracker is on top. I have copied the picture and information for continental drift front to back, and the picture and information for plate tectonics front to back. Once the graham crackers have touched each other, note how the marshmallow spreading is a different. This is another fun activity with a sweet treat reward at the end. For this activity, i grabbed a box of graham crackers, some cool whip, and a plate. This activity has further investigations below an interactive game, crossword puzzle, and plate labeling sheets to help solidify understanding of vocabulary. Break the graham cracker on its seam to make 2 rectangles and place the 2 rectangles, touching, on top of the frosting.
Give each student a paper plate covered in frosting and several graham cracker squares. Gently put the wet cracker section and a dry cracker section on the layer of frosting. The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of seven major plates and numerous smaller plates. Gently push the continental graham cracker towards the ocean plate fruit roll up until the two overlap and the graham cracker is on top. The graham cracker represents the earths crust, divided into plates. In between the layers are layers of chunky peanut butter or jam. Four resources make up a collection that breaks down each part of the plate tectonic cycle. In this windows to the universe activity, students use these items to model the different types of plate.
Graham cracker plate tectonics plate tectonics, earth. Graham cracker tectonics by bryce hixson this lab is an introduction to the boundary zones between tectonic plates and how we currently believe they are formed. Draw what your food looks like after you created the transform boundary in the space provided 4. Give each pair of students one long graham cracker broken in half. Continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust and for this reason it floats high on the athenosphere. The graham cracker represents the thicker but less dense continental plate, while the fruit roll represents the thin but dense oceanic plate. Place the graham crackers on opposite sides of the plate. Model the plates movements using frosting and graham crackers to understand how earths landscape can. The graham cracker represents continental crust, which is thicker and less dense than oceanic crust fruit roll up.
Copy of the plate tectonic exit ticket for each student. The graham crackers represent the earths crust, which is broken up into plates. What is the process that creates new ocean floor from diverging plates. Discover how geologic features form by modeling the slow movement of earths tectonic plates. Sortingsprinkles has uploaded 977 photos to flickr. Label drawing as to what each item represents in terms of earth layers or processes of plate tectonics. Use only two of the pieces for part 3, saving the other two for part 4. Dip one end of each of the two graham crackers into a cup of water about 2 cm. This activity is great for introducing kids to how landforms are created. Distribute graham crackers, cake frosting and plates to students. The theory also states that the motion of these plates creates a variety of interactions at the plate boundaries.
Spread a thin layer of frosting on another quarter of your paper plate. Teach kids about plate tectonics with graham crackers. Students will use shaving cream and graham crackers to simulate the three types of plate boundaries transform, divergent, and convergent. Graham cracker plate tectonics earth science activities. Buy wax paper, knives, frosting, fruit rollups, and graham crackers.
Graham cracker plate tectonics lab stepbystep photo instructions. Using the knife respread a thick layer of frosting in the center of the wax paper. Give each student a paper plate covered in frosting and several. What happened to the frosting between the crackers. Questionanswer slides after steps to check for student understanding.
Convergent places where plates crash or push together. It floats high on the asthenosphere so dont push it down. Immediately remove the crackers and lay them end to end on the cool whip with the wet edges nearly touching. What term is used to describe one plate moving beneath another. In this plate tectonics worksheet, students use graham crackers, frosting, water and a paper plate to simulate tectonic processes such as convergent, divergent and transforming plate boundaries. Other times landforms are created by sudden events like earthquakes or meteor strikes. Plate tectonics graham cracker lab by science station tpt. Scoop a pile of whipped cream onto a plate and spread it so that it is smooth and about a half of an inch thick. Push the two plate models slowly toward each other and observe which plate rides up. Handson activities for teaching landforms grade school giggles. Each student will need a copy of handout b, the graham cracker chewing gum lab handout, and the data sheet for handout b see attached documents. Graham cracker plate tectonics lesson plan for 7th 10th.
The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7 major plates and numerous smaller plates. Find it in a collection made up of pre and postlabs, group discussions, and answering questions. Feb 23, 2015 youth use graham crackers and pudding to model tectonic plate movement. Break the other whole graham cracker in half, and then break each half in half again so you have 4 pieces. Put the two plate models slowly toward each other and observe which plate rides up over the other. Immediately remove the crackers and lay them end to end on the frosting with the wet edges. Stepbystep powerpoint for both you and your students total of 7 steps, pictures of student expectations is included. Every ten seconds, push the graham crackers closer to each other. Edible plate tectonics divergent, convergent, and transform. Print out sets of these stepbystep photo instructions to help your students successfully model plate tectonic activity using graham crackers, cake.
Graham cracker plate tectonics playdough to plato this quick and tasty kids science activity gives little scientists a hands on way to explore plate tectonics the movement of the earths crust that leads to the formation of volcanoes, mountains, and oceanic trenches. Each piece of graham cracker represents a continental plate. Immediately remove the crackers and lay them end to end on the frosting with the wet edges nearly touching. If you have three graham crackers, break each graham cracker in half so that you have a total of six crackers. This video walks through the gram cracker plate tectonics lab. The graham cracker represents the thin but dense oceanic plate while the foam board represents the thicker but less dense continental plate. Finally we used our last graham crackers to make a subduction zone what happens when a more dense oceanic plate is thrust under a less dense continental plate. What happens to a real tectonic plate being subducted.
Provide an example of a location where this type of boundary is found on earth. First they will follow a given set of directions to explore the idea of plate tectonics. This activity is a slight variation on an original activity, discovering plate boundaries, developed by dale sawyer at rice university. Plate boundaries are found at the edge of the plates. Youth use graham crackers and pudding to model tectonic plate. These science activities involve creating clastic sedimentary sandwiches using graham crackers, peanut butter and jam are fun to create and eat.
Second grade lesson incredible edible earth changes. Plate movements introduction the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of less than twenty separate plates that float on the hot plastic mantle of the inner earth. They will work in partners, one person will move the model graham crackers and cool whip and the other partner will diagram the events. Looking for a handson approach to understanding the plate tectonics cycle. These plates move on the top of the hot plastic upper mantle known as the asthenosphere. On the actual surface of the earth, the lower plate is subducted. Spread a thick layer of frosting on the paper plate. The kids will move broken graham crackers on top of a frosted sheet of wax paper to create divergent, convergent, transform fault, and sub. Apr 05, 20 the visual aid helps them understand the relative size of tectonic plates and what happens on the earths surface. I made different maps, including more detail in all of the datasets, and used a different map projection, but otherwise the general progression of the activity is the same. Dip one end of each of the two graham crackers two centimeters into a cup of water. In this activity the graham crackers represent sedimentary layers of mud that have turned to stone.
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