All About Plate Tectonics

With the fact the little ones are so busy and we need to do things that hold their attention for learning. It was a very nice surprise to find this experiment from Playdough to Plato.  She came up with this amazing experiment and covered so much of the information that we needed to go over. 

Supplies:

• Cool whip
• Graham crackers
• Food coloring (orange, yellow & red)
• Plate
• Spoon

Mix some food coloring in the cool whip after you place it on the plate. Place two halves of the graham crackers on the plate, on top of the cool whip. The cool whip is  the Mantle. The graham crackers are the Plate Tectonics. 

The Three Boundaries:

• Transform Boundaries
• Divergent Boundaries
• Convergent Boundaries 

Don't forget about the Subduction Zone.

To demonstrate the different boundaries, the children moved their graham cracker plates in different directions. Each movement had a different result. We stopped after each time and discussed what we had for results and why. Of course, they had to clean off their fingers between each movement. 

Transform Boundaries: are places where the plates slide sideways past each other. They will catch and grind together.

• Make your graham cracker plates pass each other in this way.

Divergent Boundaries: where two plates move away from each other. Magna rises and forms a new crust layer.

• Pull your graham cracker plates away from each other. 

Convergent Boundaries: where two plates are moving towards each other. If they are they are the same density they will push against each other and make mountain chain.  If the two plates are unequal density, one will sink below the other creating a Subduction Zone. 

Connor and Jazlyn are converging on each other. At this moment they are getting along. 

All our little scientists.

I caught Chloe in mid-conversation with James. Sophie is just being a little ham. She was ready to eat her experiment. 

We did this experiment to go with the first week of home schooling and our volcano unit. Finding units like this are a true treasure. It made it easier for the little ones to learn. I wish the photos were a little nicer but you can see the experiment well enough.