Geography·Physical Geography · NSSCO 1.1a
The Earth's structure & plate tectonics
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The ground under your feet feels solid and still — but our planet is restless. In this lesson we cut the Earth open to see its three layers (crust, mantle and core), discover that the crust is cracked into giant plates that float and drift, and learn how slow currents deep inside the Earth push those plates around. We'll meet the three kinds of plate boundary — destructive, constructive and conservative — see where the great fold mountains, ocean trenches and mid-ocean ridges form, and work through how a fold mountain like the Himalayas is born.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO Geography 1.1a):
- Name and describe the three layers that comprise the earth's structure: crust, mantle and core
- Differentiate between a plate and plate tectonics
- Describe how convection currents cause plate movement
- Distinguish between the types of plate margins and plate movements: convergent/destructive, divergent/constructive and conservative/transform boundaries
- Describe the distribution of fold mountains, deep sea trenches, volcanic island arcs and mid-oceanic ridges
- Describe the formation of fold mountains
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