Plate Tectonics
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About
Topics
- Plate Tectonics
- Crust
- Lithosphere
- Mantle
- Density
- Buoyancy
- Earth Science
Description
Explore how plates move on the surface of the earth. Change temperature, composition, and thickness of plates. Discover how to create new mountains, volcanoes, or oceans!
Sample Learning Goals
- Describe the differences between oceanic and continental crust, including their respective properties of density, composition, temperature and thickness.
- Predict how changes in composition and temperature change crust density and buoyancy.
- Draw a time series for different types of plate boundaries and their motions, indicating the related surface features.
- Deduce the type of plate boundary given images or descriptions of surface features.
- Explain which types of plate boundaries create crust, and which destroy crust
For Teachers
Teacher Tips
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Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking (PDF). |
Teacher-Submitted Activities
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Authors | Level | Type | Updated |
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| Plate Tectonics Inquiry |
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Courtney Fadley, Noah Podolefsky | MS | Lab | 11/30/12 |
| PhET Plate Tectonics |
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David Moutoux | HS | Lab | 9/27/13 | |
| Plate Tectonics |
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Karen Mogren | HS | Lab | 3/30/13 | |
| Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS |
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Trish Loeblein | HS | Other | 10/19/15 | |
| How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? |
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Sarah Borenstein | MS | Other | 10/19/15 | |
| MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment | Elyse Zimmer | MS HS |
Other | 10/19/15 | ||
| Plate Tectonics Lab | Cesar Duran | MS | Lab | 9/14/15 | ||
| Kinematics | Wang Yunhe | HS | Lab | 8/18/15 | ||
| Plate Motions Lab Sheet | Brian Puls | K-5 MS |
Lab | 5/19/15 | ||
| NGSS Simulation Alignment/Correlation | Matthew Huffine | HS MS K-5 UG-Intro |
Other Demo |
3/20/15 |
Translations
Related Simulations
Software Requirements
| Windows | Macintosh | Linux |
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Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later
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OS 10.5 or later Sun Java 1.5.0_19 or later
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Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later
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Credits
| Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
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