The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 16 major pieces or plates. Take two graham cracker pieces and lay the two pieces side by side on top of the frosting so they are touching. What happens to the wet ends of the graham crackers. Lesson content overview students will demonstrate, identify, and explain the movement of the plates at. Before they became too soggy, ld and i pushed our crustal plates ie graham crackers together. Graham cracker plate tectonics 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. Dec 04, 2011 place the graham crackers on opposite sides of the plate.
This classroom activity can be used to introduce or expand plate tectonics for elementary, secondary, middle school, and university level students. Each piece of graham cracker represents a continental plate. Plate tectonics graham cracker lab by science station tpt. California demonstrate plate tectonics with graham crackers and frosting. Feb 23, 2015 youth use graham crackers and pudding to model tectonic plate movement. Then i move on to the two different convergent plate boundary activities. Move the crackers back and forth against each other. Schaefer the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7 major plates and numerous smaller plates. Immediately remove the crackers and lay them end to end on the frosting with.
Graham cracker plate tectonics lesson plan for 7th 10th. Lay an entire graham cracker and a krispie bar end to end on top of the icing. Handson activities for teaching landforms grade school. 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. Observe what is happening to the marshmallow spread. Once the graham crackers have touched each other, note how the marshmallow spreading is a different. The theory was formulated in the 1960s and 1970s as new information was obtained about the nature of the ocean floor, earths. Jul, 2015 okay that was my observation, but it is on a different tectonic plate than the rest of the country. If you are low on cash, stick with procedure and skip the rice crispies. Have students look over their plate tectonics chart to ensure they have completed each of the entries. To model the interactions of earths tectonic plates as they move about its surface. Elementary activities on plate tectonics handson activities can help elementary students understand how mountains are formed. Learn how earths tectonic plates interact in this delicious activity.
We respread the frosting asthenosphere, and demonstrate the convergence of oceanic crust and continental crust using the graham cracker oceanic and rice crispy treat continental. Break the graham cracker on its seam to make 2 rectangles and place the 2 rectangles, touching, on top of the frosting. The icing represents the molten rock in the earths mantle and the graham crackers represent the tectonic plates. Love the whole activity, especially the convergent boundary. This theory also says that most of these plates are in motion, creating. Spread a thick layer of frosting on the paper plate.
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. First they will follow a given set of directions to explore the idea of plate tectonics. Other times landforms are created by sudden events like earthquakes or meteor strikes. 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. Stepbystep powerpoint for both you and your students total of 7 steps, pictures of student expectations is included.
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. For this activity, i grabbed a box of graham crackers, some cool whip, and a plate. 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. Give each student a paper plate covered in frosting and several graham cracker squares. Immediately remove the crackers and lay them end to end on the frosting with the wet edges. The graham cracker represents the earths crust, divided into plates.
The ultimate science bundle plate tectonics unit bundle continental drift w activity major tectonic plates the ring of fire activity types of plate boundaries volcanoes earthquakes the awesome clip art found in this product can be found here. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, andor atmosphere interact. Place a spoonful of frosting on the wax paper for each pair of students. Unit 5 covers standards relating to earths systems. Each piece of graham cracker represents a continental.
Though alfred wegener was the first to suggest the theory of continental drift and plate tectonics in 1915, it wasnt widely accepted until the 1960s and 1970s as new information was obtained about the nature of the ocean floor, earths magnetism, the distribution of volcanoes and. Print out sets of these stepbystep photo instructions to help your students successfully model plate tectonic activity using graham crackers, cake. Questionanswer slides after steps to check for student understanding. Label drawing as to what each item represents in terms of earth layers or processes in plate tectonics. The children will experience the grinding and clashing of the earths plates by using an incredible, edible model. Draw what your food looks like after you created the convergent continental to oceanic boundary in the space provided 4. In between the layers are layers of chunky peanut butter or jam. Dip one end of each of the two graham crackers two centimeters into a cup of water.
It should be about the size of a whole graham cracker but twice as thick. To understand how plate boundaries interact with each other and the features created as they drift atop the slow moving asthenosphere. Dip one end of each of the two graham crackers into a cup of water. This graham cracker plate tectonics lesson plan is suitable for 7th 10th grade. Plate movement directly affects the destruction of earths surface because the more dense plates sink causing a trench where the plates are thoroughly destroyed. Lay the two pieces of graham crackers side by side on top of the frosting so they are touching. In this windows to the universe activity, students use these items to model the different types of plate. To identify and demonstrate the forces that shape the features of the earth 2. I have copied the picture and information for continental drift front to back, and the picture and information for plate tectonics front to back.
In this activity the graham crackers represent sedimentary layers of mud that have turned to stone. The theory also states that the motion of these plates creates a variety of interactions at the plate boundaries. 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. Plate movements introduction the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of less than. Slowly push the cracker and krispit treat together to simulate the movement of a converging oceanic plate with a continental plate. This includes activities about plate tectonics, convection currents, using a compass. As they finish, allow students to choose a type of boundary to imitate with their graham crackers and have their partner guess what type of boundary they are creating. Slowly push the graham crackers towards each other. This activity is great for introducing kids to how landforms are created. They will work in partners, one person will move the model graham crackers and cool whip and the other partner will diagram the events. These plates ride on the hot plastic upper mantle known as the asthenosphere. Demonstrate plate tectonics with graham crackers and. Break one whole graham cracker into two square pieces by following the perforations on the cracker.
These plates ride on the hot plastic upper mantle called the asthenosphere. Sketch this model on your lab sheet and answer the questions. You have now completed the activity on plate tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of seven major plates and. This is another fun activity with a sweet treat reward at the end. Copy of the plate tectonic exit ticket for each student. Graham cracker tectonics this is another fun activity with a sweet treat reward at the end. One graham cracker half 1 mini fruit roll up torn in half representations. Dec 04, 2016 to model tectonic plate boundaries, students will use graham crackers to represent earths lithosphere and pudding to represent the flowing asthenosphere upper mantle. While for science teachers plate tectonics may have gotten you excited in school, we have to remember that is not always the case for the students in our classroom. To represent the natural world by creating models and analyzing their limitations. Looking for a handson approach to understanding the plate tectonics cycle. Dip one end of each of the two graham crackers into a cup of water about 2 cm. Every ten seconds, push the graham crackers closer to each other.
This theory also says that most of these plates are in. Slather a considerable amount of marshmallow spread onto a plate. Place the wet cracker and the dry cracker end to end on the frostingcovered plate. Model the plates movements using frosting and graham crackers to. Next, direct the kids to imitate different types of boundaries. 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. Place the graham crackers on opposite sides of the plate. After learning about plate tectonics, students will model how plates move when a prompt is given.
Foam model plate tectonics this lesson plan gives students a demonstration to visualize the concept of plate tectonics. Using the knife respread a thick layer of frosting in the center of the wax paper. The kids will move broken graham crackers on top of a frosted sheet of wax paper to create divergent, convergent, transform fault, and subduction zone boundaries. Label drawing as to what each item represents in terms of earth layers or processes of plate tectonics. If you have three graham crackers, break each graham cracker in half so that you have a total of six crackers. Use the knife spread a thick layer of frosting in the center of the wax paper. Buy wax paper, knives, frosting, fruit rollups, and graham crackers. Edible plate tectonics divergent, convergent, and transform. Plate tectonics lab activity the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7 major plates and numerous smaller plates. Distribute graham crackers, cake frosting and plates to students. This lab is an introduction to the boundary zones between tectonic plates and how we currently believe they are formed.
This snackable plate tectonics lab provides the perfect combination of science rigor and fun. Take two pieces of dry crackers and place them side by side on the frosting. These science activities involve creating clastic sedimentary sandwiches using graham crackers, peanut butter and jam are fun to create and eat. Have them put a thick layer of frosting on the plate. Graham cracker plate tectonics lab just a little info the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of seven major plates and numerous smaller plates. Name a specific location on the earth where this type of boundary activity takes place. Four resources make up a collection that breaks down each part of the plate tectonic cycle.
Google graham cracker plate tectonics lab for a variety of different versions used by schools across the country. Graham cracker plate tectonics earth science activities. Microsoft word graham cracker plate tectonics lab activity. Place the crackers onto the frosting with wet edges next to each other. The fruit rollups act as the oceanic crust and the graham crackers are the continental crust because continental crust is thicker than oceanic. This includes activities about plate tectonics, convection currents, using a compass, earthquakes, volcanoes, instructions on how to make a shake table and more. Edible plate tectonics page 1 focus on inquiry the student will use food to model and observe the plate movement and consequences of plate movement associated with the theory of plate tectonics.
Give each student a paper plate covered in frosting and several. Graham cracker plate tectonics lab stepbystep photo instructions. Graham cracker plate tectonics plate tectonics, earth. Graham cracker plate tectonics plate tectonics, earth science. Edible plate tectonics page 6 converging oceanic or oceanic and continental plates graham cracker and fruit rollup or two fruit rollups moving toward one another creating a subduction zone. Dec 17, 2018 however, the version i prefer includes the use of a rice crispy treat to illustrate oceanic vs.
Which movement from your plate tectonics boundary graphic organizer would cause volcanoes. Second grade lesson incredible edible earth changes. The oceanic plate is subducted below the continental one. This activity is a slight variation on an original activity, discovering plate boundaries, developed by dale sawyer at rice university. Students create a tasty model that illustrates plate tectonic motions. Swbat describe the impact that plate tectonics have on the topography of earth. I use a version similar to this free version of graham cracker tectonics provided by. Model the plates movements using frosting and graham crackers to understand how earths landscape can. Its the perfect combination to our action packed landform activity pack. The theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7 major plates and numerous smaller plates. Immediately remove the crackers and lay them end to end on the cool whip with the wet edges nearly touching.
My 5 year old instantly recognized this boundary as its what led to the formation of all the volcanic mountains that surround us. 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. Read and download ebook graham cracker plate tectonics lab activity answers pdf at public ebook librarygraham cracker. Give each kid two graham cracker halves and a plate covered in a thick smear of icing. What happened to the frosting between the crackers. Plate boundary description landformsfeatures materials. Students create and test models of tectonic plate movement and use them to analyze and interpret features on a map of earth. Handson activities for teaching landforms grade school giggles. Spread frosting on wax paper to cover an area a bit larger than the graham cracker square.
These plates move on the top of the hot plastic upper mantle known as the asthenosphere. To model tectonic plate boundaries, students will use graham crackers to represent earths lithosphere and pudding to represent the flowing asthenosphere upper mantle. How do wet crackers act more like real plates than dry crackers. When continents move towards each other there is nowhere for the rock to go but up. Reuse the graham cracker used above for this activity. Gently push the continental graham cracker towards the ocean plate fruit roll up until the two overlap and the graham cracker is on top. Plate movement directly affects the construction of earths surface because the land recycles and creates new crust by divergent plates.
Gently push graham cracker towards the ocean plate fruit roll up until the two overlap. The frosting serves as the mantle, on which the pieces of crust can move around. Find it in a collection made up of pre and postlabs, group discussions, and answering questions. Students will use shaving cream and graham crackers to simulate the three types of plate boundaries transform, divergent, and convergent. We took two graham crackers and placed them on a plate with a bit of water. Give each pair of students one long graham cracker broken in half. Exploring the movement of tectonic plates with smores.
Once the graham crackers have touched each other, note how the marshmallow spreading is a different shape than it was at the start of the experiment. To study the interactions of the tectonic plates as they move slowly on the asthenosphere. Spread a thin layer of frosting on another quarter of your paper plate. Schaefer the theory of plate tectonics states that the crust of the earth is composed of 7 major. The frosting represents the layer of lava, or the mantle, on which earths crust floats. The graham crackers represent the earths crust, which is broken up into plates. Gently put the wet cracker section and a dry cracker section on the layer of frosting. Approaching the holidays, i always try to amp up my labs to increase engagement. The theory of plate tectonics provides geology with a comprehensive theory that explains how the earth works. Have students slowly push the crackers together so. What can you do with fruit rollups, graham crackers and frosting in your science class. This video walks through the gram cracker plate tectonics lab. This quick and tasty kids science activitygives little scientists a hands o teaching explore weather vocabulary with preschool and kindergarten students with this free printable weather board game from playdough to plato. Most landforms are made over a very long time through slow processes.
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