Plate Movements on Earth Cause Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Our last experiment (demonstration perhaps is a better
word) was on plate movements. We looked at a map of
the world's plates, then made our own out of clay. On
each plate was a continent (raised) and ocean (lower
parts).

We talked about how plates move around. Under each
plate we put some magma (corn syrup and red food dye).

When the plates are moving nothing happens to the magma
(picture 1)

Sometimes plates rub against each other or one plate
slips up and over another creating earthquakes.
Sometimes when the plates move against each other lava
come up (volcanoes!)

Sometimes the plates press against each other and create
mountains.

Then we talked about the ring of fire, where lots of
earthquakes and volcanoes occur. The ring of fire is located
along the edges of these plates.

Every few years, we circle around to cover basic material again. You may be interested in the Earth Science Unit we did more recently -- and be sure to check out our Earth Science Unit Study Packet! It includes worksheets about the solar system, the layers of the Earth, plate tectonics, the ring of fire, earthquake activity and volcanoes. I also included more than a dozen hands-on activities we did with this unit including activities about plate tectonics, using a compass, earthquakes, volcanoes, instructions on how to make a shake table and more!

Earth Science Packet:

See how to make a shake table here:

See our Gelatin Volcano Earth Science Activity here:

Se our Tissue Paper Volcano Activity here:

Hope you visit our new location at homeschoolden.com (the links above take you there!) or come visit us at our Homeschool Den Facebook Page. :) ~Liesl