Sea Floor Spreading Classroom Activity

Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection.

Sea floor spreading classroom activity.

Students will observe seafloor spreading in the classroom through a paper towel spreading center demonstration illustrating the relative motion of the plates. Seafloor spreading is happening at b. Convection currents also recycle lithospheric materials back to the mantle. Sea floor spreading answer key.

As magma starts to harden into rock iron rich minerals solidify first. Most basalt magmas contain abundant molten iron. Molten rock pushes up from the asthenosphere and pushes the plates apart at the mid ocean ridge. When a divergent boundary occurs in the ocean seafloor spreading is the result.

Learn more about sea floor spreading and how it works with this demo. It is an underwater mountain range that forms when magma pushes up on the crust at a divergent boundary. Displaying top 8 worksheets found for activity seafloor spreading. A worksheet will then test for understanding and introduce global earthquake distribution as an indicator of plate movements.

Once the basalt cools completely into solid rock the. The quiz mimics how standardized tests generally ask about this topic as questions require si. Effective ngss ms ess2 1 and ms ess2 2 quiz. Their crystals are pulled into alignment by the earth s magnetic field just like a compass needle is pulled towards magnetic north.

In this activity students will use actual data from historic oceanographic cruises to examine sea floor spreading. Printable and compatible with google classroom for distance learning. This coloring sheet visu. This is an ngss based 10 question quiz about continental drift and sea floor spreading.

Plot data on a. This is a mid ocean ridge. Mantle convection is the slow churning motion of earth s mantle. Some of the worksheets for this concept are sea floor spreading work sea floor spreading a model of seafloor spreading inside earth work magnetic reversals activity name date sea floor spreading l 1 2 3 5 4 ovr l lesson 3 seafloor profiling seafloor spreading and subduction.

Convection currents carry heat from the lower mantle and core to the lithosphere. Seafloor spreading is the movement of magma through a crack in a mid oceanic ridge. Free background music no copyright music brvtvs dead times freebackgroundmusic webs. This creates new ocean crust.

This interactive activity is simple to prepare and to execute and allows the students to understand seafloor spreading and the position of newer rock and older rock in relation to. At the completion of this activity you should be able to. In 1960 harry hess hypothesis about seafloor spreading was a key component of the plate tectonics revolution.