Environmental Science Unit: Plate Tectonics, Landforms, and Plate Boundaries

This comprehensive set of lessons and activities is perfect for a high school environmental science course or earth science overview. This unit will introduce your students to the movement of tectonic plates, the landforms created at plate boundaries, and the effect of plate movement on human populations and ecosystems. A PowerPoint, student worksheets, a project-based learning activity, web-quests, and an online quiz are all included for a no-prep unit that is cohesive and easy to follow.

All student pages come in both PRINT and DIGITAL versions for efficient use in class or through distance learning.

Topics included in this lesson are: layers of the earth (crust, mantle, outer core, inner core), evidence for plate tectonics, Alfred Wegener, Pangaea, continental drift, plate boundaries (convergent, divergent, transform), landforms at plate boundaries (subduction zones, trenches, ridges, volcanoes, earthquakes), Ring of Fire, P-waves, S-waves, surface waves, environmental disturbances (periodic, episodic, random), intermediate disturbance hypothesis, ecosystem resistance and resilience, effects of volcanic eruptions on surrounding communities, rain shadow effect

➤What's included?

• 8 Teacher Planning Pages (standards document, editable daily pacing guide, differentiation ideas for student interest, ability, and learning environment)
• 1 PowerPoint (19 editable slides- highly visual and fully animated)
• 2 pages of Cornell Notes (both fill-in-the-blank and editable versions included)
• 2 pages of my popular Doodle Notes (TM) which can be used as a summary review
• Web-quest with corresponding student pages for independent learning
• Plate Mapping Activity using Google Maps to identify and categorize landforms at various types of plate boundaries (2 pgs)
• Volcano Project-based Learning (PBL) Activity- Students use sustained inquiry to research the question "How should local communities prepare for and respond to a volcanic eruption?" Students demonstrate learning by making a public service video. (12 pgs- teacher instructions, student instructions, guiding questions, progress checks, student planning pages and grading rubrics)
• 3 Extension Pages for bell-ringers or homework- volcanic eruption case study, ecological disturbances reading assignment, rain shadow effect map reading assignment (3 pgs)
• Math Extension page- dimensional analysis and calculations using real volcanic eruption data
• Online quiz using Google Forms for easy grading

This is a large bundle of lessons. To see details about each activity, please click on the "PREVIEW" button above.

The unit is aligned to NGSS and many state standards. If you’d like to know whether your state standards are covered, you can send me an email at support@suburbanscience.com.

NGSS addressed in this unit: HS-ESS2-2, HS-ESS2-3, HS-ESS2-7, HS-ESS3-1, HS-LS2-6, HS-ETS1-2, HS-ETS1-3. Additional details on standards are included in the teacher planning pages of this course.

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*For more details about the specific topics and items included, please see my PREVIEW.*

➤Where can I find other Environmental Science lessons?

Intro to Environmental Science

Biosphere Unit 1: Ecology, Food webs, and Symbiosis

Biosphere Unit 2: Species and Population Ecology

Biosphere Unit 3: World Biomes, Ecological Succession, and Biodiversity

Atmosphere: Weather, Wind, and Biogeochemical Cycles

Geosphere Unit 1: Plate Tectonics and Landforms

Geosphere Unit 2: Minerals, Mining, and Soil

Geosphere Unit 3: Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy

Hydrosphere Unit 1: Surface Water, Groundwater, and the Water Cycle

Hydrosphere Unit 2: Marine Biomes and Water Pollution

Land Use & Sustainability

Or get the Full Environmental Science Curriculum which includes all these units!

➤What curriculum could I use with this lesson?

This lesson is ideally geared toward high school students and would work well with a general-level Environmental Science or Biology textbook. It addresses the following topics in AP Environmental Science (APES):

• 2.5: Natural Disruptions to Ecosystems
• 4.1: Plate Tectonics
• 4.8: Earth's Geography and Climate
• 7.4: Atmospheric CO2 and Particulates

➤Can I edit these resources to fit my needs?

Some of the files in this unit are editable. The text on the PowerPoints, Cornell Notes, and task cards is all editable so you can adjust the level of content and wording. The pacing guide, and the online quiz through Google Forms™ are all fully editable. Web-quests, activities, extension pages, and any images included in this unit are in non-editable PDF formats to protect my intellectual property rights and those of the illustrators whose images I’ve purchased for use in this resource.

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