Plate Tectonics
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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
Version 1.02
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 | Subject |
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| Plate Tectonics Inquiry |
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Courtney Fadley, Noah Podolefsky | MS | Lab | Earth Science |
| PhET Plate Tectonics |
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David Moutoux | HS | Lab | Earth Science | |
| Plate Tectonics |
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Karen Mogren | HS | Lab | Earth Science | |
| Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS |
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Trish Loeblein | HS | Other | Earth Science Physics Chemistry Biology |
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| How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? |
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Sarah Borenstein | MS | Other | Physics Chemistry Biology Earth Science |
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| MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment | Elyse Zimmer | HS MS |
Other | Biology Chemistry Physics |
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| Plate Tectonics PhET | Lindsay Waack, Shelby Halliday | HS MS |
Guided Lab HW Discuss |
Earth Science | ||
| Plate Tectonic SIM Lab | Marc Alderman | MS | Lab Guided |
Earth Science | ||
| Plate Tectonics Lab! | Jamie Schoenberger | MS | Guided Lab |
Earth Science | ||
| Plate Tectonic Simulation | Kevin Birkholz | MS | Guided Lab |
Earth Science | ||
| Plate Tectonics Lab | Cesar Duran | MS | Lab | Earth Science | ||
| Kinematics | Wang Yunhe | HS | Lab | Physics | ||
| Plate Motions Lab Sheet | Brian Puls | MS K-5 |
Lab | Earth Science | ||
| NGSS Simulation Alignment/Correlation | Matthew Huffine | HS UG-Intro K-5 MS |
Other Demo |
Other | ||
| struttura e vita di un pianeta roccioso | Sossio Del Prete | MS HS |
MC Discuss Guided Lab |
Earth Science Astronomy |
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| Montagne, vulcani e oceani | Sossio Del Prete | K-5 MS |
Lab | Earth Science |
This simulation is incompatible with Macs due to an incompatibility between the graphics hardware on those systems and the 3D graphics library (LWJGL) used in the simulation.
| Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
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