1. Jessica Wilsey A UDL lesson plan
Plate Tectonic Theory
Jessica Wilsey
A UDL lesson plan
This would be giving after we’ve already been discussing the layers of the Earth’s crust and continents.

2. What is plate tectonic theory?
Plate tectonics is a theory that describes the movements of the Earth’s lithosphere.
The lithosphere is made of 8 major plates and many minor plates.
The lithosphere includes the crust and the upper mantle.

3. Image retrieved from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/slabs.html
Tectonic Plates of Earth
Hand students their maps and instruct to color all the different plates. Electronic copy imported into paint to fill in colors for students with significant disabilities.
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4. What happens when two plates meet?
The place where two plates meet is called a plate boundary. There are three primary types of plate boundaries.
Divergent Boundary
Convergent Boundary
Transform Boundary

5. Divergent Plate Boundary
Two plates moving apart from each other.
Lava from the upper mantle fills the gap, causing rifts or ridges to form.
Students use clay to demonstrate this boundary
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6. Leif the Lucky Bridge in Iceland
Bridge spanning the divergent boundary of the Eurasian and North American plates.
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7. Convergent Plate Boundary
Two plates moving towards each other collide; causing one plate to be forced under the other. This process is called subduction.
Subduction zones typically see a change of 2 to 8 centimeters per year.
Known for high rates of volcanic activity, earthquakes, and mountain building.
Students use clay to demonstrate this boundary
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8. Convergent Plate Boundary
Two plates moving towards each other collide, can also cause an uprising of magma and rock, creating mountains.
Students use clay to demonstrate this boundary
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9. Mt. Everest in the Himalayan Mountain Range
The Himalayan Mountain Range is formed by a convergent boundary between the Indian and the Eurasian plates. Average rate of growth is 15 cm per year.
That’s nearly 6 inches!
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10. Transform Plate Boundary
Two plates moving in opposite directions past each other, forming faults.
Does not create or destroy lithosphere.
Known for frequent earthquakes.
Students use clay to demonstrate this boundary
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11. San Andreas Fault in California
The San Andreas Fault is a transformation boundary between the Pacific and North American plates. The plates move about 3.5 cm per year.
That’s about 1.4 inches!
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