USING INQUIRY TECHNIQUES TO CONSTRUCT THE TECTONIC PLATES WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

This is a lesson that asks students to create the current tectonic plate boundaries using world maps of earthquakes, volcanoes, topography, and sea-floor age. It is a modification of a lesson titled “Discovering Plate Boundaries” designed by Dale S. Sawyer of Rice University in Houston, Texas. The activity designed by Sawyer can be found at http://terra.rice.edu/plateboundary/resources.html. This lesson is rich in real world data and visual stimulation but needed modification to be used in a middle school classroom. This lesson has taken advantage of the maps provided by Sawyer as well as the “jigsaw” method of group collaboration, however substantial changes have been made to make it appropriate to middle school students. It is now titled “Geology Map Observations” and it incorporates best practices in inquiry science education as well as techniques appropriate for English Language Learners (ELL).

The lesson has three parts that in total take 3 50-minute class periods or 2 1 1/2 hour block classes. Part one asks students to get into groups of 3-4 and become “experts” on a particular map type. They look at one of the maps on geography, volcanology, seismology or geochronology. They are asked to make observations about the map as well as become familiar with the key and the type of information on the map. In the second part ,the students “jigsaw” and get into groups where each person is an expert in a different map. They share their observations with their group and find similarities among the observations. The students are then given a copy of the world and asked to draw in the plate boundaries. In part 3 each group is presenting where they think the plate boundaries are located. The worksheets created for this lesson guide students through the process as well as give examples of the type of observations they should be making. This lesson is the first in a sequence of lessons on plate tectonics where students in the end will construct a map, which includes the type and location of the major plate boundaries. Copies of the exercise as well as follow-up lesson will be provided.