Use the FREE National Geographic MapMaker Interactive to analyze earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as evidence for plate tectonics. It works great for remote learning!

Includes:

• Student sheets
• Answer key
• How to use guide

How to use Plate Tectonics: Using NatGeo Mapmaker Interactive

This assignment can be used in many different ways. It is surprisingly versatile!

When should I use this activity?

• Introduction to a plate tectonics unit
• Midway through a plate tectonics unit
• Bridge between teaching the layers of the Earth and plate tectonics
• To emphasize evidence of scientific theories
• As an assignment for a student who missed a lecture

How can I use this activity?

• In-class assignment done as individuals or in pairs. I hesitate having more than two heads per computer screen.
• Homework assignment
• As a teacher-guided class activity. I have done this projected on the board while I asked the class the questions.
• As part of a jigsaw puzzle on evidence of the layers of the Earth. This activity can be for an earthquakes & volcanoes group. Other groups may be seafloor spreading, seafloor magnetic reversals, orogeny, subduction, etc.
• As part of a stations lab. You can choose sections of the activity to include at a station. You can also choose to break up the whole activity into its own station lab. Each section by questions can be broken into 5 stations. This can be helpful with limited computer screens. With this method, I would do the Summary Questions as a class wrap-up at the end since it does not work well out of order.
• As part of a natural disaster unit. There is also a Natural Disaster Hot Spots layer you can use that is located in the Earth Systems category and the Climate and Weather category.