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BUILDING BIG: All About Skyscrapers. Plate Tectonics - A Documentary. Learn about Plate Tectonics. National Geographic Colliding Continents. Earthquake in the Classroom. Technology/Engineering Classroom Activities. B-29 Frozen in Time In "Arctic Engineering," students follow problem-solving techniques used by scientists in the program and generate strategies for improving upon the scientists' solutions.
Grades 6-8. Battle of the X-Planes In "Backpack Challenge," students design a backpack that meets multiple needs. Grades 6-8, 9-12. Building Big: Bridges Find a collection of 10 activities -- including paper bridge, geodesic dome, and newspaper tower -- designed to introduce students to the basic physical science of large structures. Grades 3-5, 6-8. Building Big: Dams Find a collection of 10 activities -- including paper bridge, geodesic dome, and newspaper tower -- designed to introduce students to the basic physical science of large structures.
Building Big: Domes Find a collection of 10 activities -- including paper bridge, geodesic dome, and newspaper tower -- designed to introduce students to the basic physical science of large structures. Fireworks! Flood! Killer Quake! Roller Coaster! Video. Video. A Science Odyssey: You Try It: Plate Tectonics. Earth Floor: Plate Tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics has done for geology what Charles Darwin's theory of evolution did for biology.
It provides geology with a comprehensive theory that explains "how the Earth works. " The theory was formulated in the 1960s and 1970s as new information was obtained about the nature of the ocean floor, Earth's ancient magnetism, the distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes, the flow of heat from Earth's interior, and the worldwide distribution of plant and animal fossils. The theory states that Earth's outermost layer, the lithosphere, is broken into 7 large, rigid pieces called plates: the African, North American, South American, Eurasian, Australian, Antarctic, and Pacific plates. Several minor plates also exist, including the Arabian, Nazca, and Philippines plates. The plates are all moving in different directions and at different speeds (from 2 cm to 10 cm per year--about the speed at which your fingernails grow) in relationship to each other.
Next. Plate Tectonics. Quicktime versionAVI version Animated gifs Last 750 million years: [1.04 MB] [506 KB] [261 KB] Last 750 million years in reverse: [1.04 MB] [506 KB] From 750 mya to the beginning of the Paleozoic: [294 KB] [166 KB] From 750 mya to the beginning of the Mesozoic: [532 KB] [284 KB] [156 KB] From the beginning of the Mesozoic to Recent: [301 KB] [163 KB] [96 KB] All animations built from maps used with the permission of C.R.
There are a number of excellent sites dealing with the modern theory of plate tectonics. The Paleomap project at the University of Texas at Arlington.Paleogeography Through Geologic Time by Ron Blakey at Northern Arizona University. Finally, it seems appropriate to mention the Alfred Wegener Institute, the German national research center for polar and marine research, carrying on Wegener's tradition of interdisciplinary earth science.
Sources: S. Earth 100 Million Years From Now. Plate Tectonics for Kids - from www.makemegenius.com.