Science - Grade10

PLATE MOVEMENT

I. INTRODUCTORY CONCEPT

Plate tectonics is regarded as the most important theory ever developed in

the field of Geology. A scientific theory describes the large-scale motion of seven
large plates and movements of a larger number of smaller plates of the earth's
lithosphere since tectonic processes began on earth between 3.3 – 3.5 billion years
ago. Three forces drive the plate tectonics, convection in the mantle (heat driven),
slab pull (gravitational force in subduction), and ridge push (gravitational force at
the spreading center).

II. LEARNING COMPETENCIES

Describe the possible causes of plate movements (S10ES-IA-J-36.5)

Objectives:
1. Explain what causes the tectonic plates to move;
2. Enumerate the factors that cause tectonic plates to move;
3. Realize the importance of the creation of convection current underneath
the earth.

III. ACTIVITIES

3.1 ELICIT:

Let us assess what you know about our lesson for today. Answer the
questions below.

PART A: Identify what is asked or described in each item and then write the
letter of correct answer on your answer sheet.

1. The lithospheric plates are thought to be slowly shifting. What is the

motivating factor that makes this movement possible?
A. Gravitational force of the motion C. Convection current in the mantle.
B. Magnetic force at the poles. D. The force of the atmosphere.

2. What kind of currents cause heat transfer in the earth?

A. Convection currents C. Radiation Currents
B. Conduction Currents D. Ocean Currents

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 3. Scientists think that convection current flow in earth’s__________?
A. Continents C. Lithosphere
B. Mantle D. Inner core

PART B: Identify what is asked or described in each item.

1. Identify the boundary where the Slab Pull Theory occurs.

______________________________________________________________
2. Describe the direction of motion of a cool, dense slab of the lithosphere.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

3.2 ENGAGE:

Have you experienced going into a mall, like SM or LCC, to shop or roam
around? Have you tried the escalator going up or down another floor? Did you
observe how the escalator works? How a person in every step of the escalator
traveled from up all the way down or from down all the way up.

Consider that the persons in the escalator are the earth's semi-fluid mantle,
and the mechanism of an escalator that drives these persons to go up or down is the
heat source.

Activity 1 – Roll, Roll, Escalator

Study the figures below and answer the following questions.

Figure 1. Escalator https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.freepik.com%2Ffree-

photosvectors%2Fescalatorarrow&psig=AOvVaw3ybY_S05Pal26qzP7qnmKw&ust=1627986549848000&sou
rce=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCMj_oNyQkvICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAa

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Guide Questions:

1. How is the escalator related to the movement of lithospheric plates?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. What causes the plates to move?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

3.3 EXPLORE:

In order to have a clear understanding of the mechanisms of tectonic plates,

perform the activities below.

Activity 2 – Push Me Up and Aside (Adapted)

Materials:
• Dropper
• Food Color (any color)
• 500 ml glass jar
• 300 ml glass jar
• 3-5 small/light wood blocks
• aluminum plate or tray
• alcohol lamp or tripod/stove

Procedures:
1. Pour 300 ml of water into the
glass jar.

2. Place the glass on an

aluminum plate/tray and heat it. Give ample
time for the water to heat up.

3. Add a few drops of food

Figure 2. "Convection Current Experiment" coloring to the water in the glass jar.
-
https://www.ck12.org/physics/convection/lesson/Convection-MS-PS/

4. Looking from the side of the

dish, observe what happens in the water.

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 Warning:
• Make sure that you know how to operate a hotplate/stove.
• Wear heat-resistant gloves to protect your hands.
• In the absence of a hotplate, you can use an alcohol burner.

Guide Questions:

Q1. How does the food coloring behave?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Q2. What do you call this behavior?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

1. Put several light wood blocks at the center of the heat source near the boiling
water.

Q3. What happens to the blocks? What does this resemble?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Activity 2 – Paper Clip Chain

To do a slab pull demonstration, you will need these materials: 15-20 pieces of
paper clip and a table.

Procedure:
1. Make a chain of paper clips consisting of at least 15-20 pieces.
2. Assemble the chain of paper clips at the end of the table.
3. Pull the end of the chain of the paper clip down the side of the table.

Figure 3. Steps of Preparing a Slab Pull Demonstration

Science Classroom, "Slab Pull Demo| How Tectonics Plates Can Pull On Each other, 2017
https://youtube/9YPz9TQW4ZM

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Guide Questions:

1. What is represented by the paper clip chain?

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2. What happens as the chain moves off the edge?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Activity 3 – Push Me Up

Figure 4. Ridge Push Diagram

-

U.S. Geological Survey, “Ridge Push”, This Dynamic Earth, 2003,

http://www.visionlearning.com/img/library/modules/mid66/Image/VLObject-846-021205021202.gif

Study the diagram of ridge push below and answer the following questions.

Questions:

1. At which type of boundary does ridge push occur?

______________________________________________________________

2. What is the primary force that generates ridge push?

______________________________________________________________

3. Describe how ridge-push is involved in the movement of the

tectonic plates.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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 3.4 EXPLAIN:

SLAB PULL THEORY

Slab Pull Theory states that gravity and the plate are responsible for the plate
tectonics through the subduction process.

Subduction zones exist at the outer edges of plates. In these zones, rocks are
older. Hence they are cooler and denser compared to those located at the inner
layers. The old rocks or slabs also subduct or sink into the mantle below it due to the
gravitational forces.

The Tectonic Plate Movement is caused by the slab being dragged down into
the mantle, dragging the remainder of the plate with it. Because of the gravitational
pull, a very dense slab will sink faster than a less dense slab, exerting higher stress
on the plate linked to it.

Figure 6. Slab Pull Processes

Lutgens et. al, "Process of Slab Pull", Essentials of Geology. Pearson

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 Slab Pull Theory believes that mantle convection is not the cause of plate
tectonics but rather a subduction product. The subduction of cold, dense slabs of
oceanic lithosphere is a major driving force of plate motion.

RIDGE PUSH

Another important driving force is ridge push. The elevated position of the
oceanic ridge enables slabs of the lithosphere to 'slide' down the ridge's slopes,
resulting in this gravity-driven mechanism. Plate motions appear to be influenced by
ridge push is significantly less than the slab pull. Comparing rates of seafloor
spreading along ridge segments of varying altitudes provides the primary evidence
for this. For example, despite the greater average height above the seafloor,
spreading rates along the Mid-Atlantic ridge is considerably less than spreading
rates along the steep East Pacific Rise. In addition, fast-moving plates are being
subducted along with a larger percentage of their margins than slow-moving plates.
This fact supports the notion that slab pull is a more significant driving force than a
ridge push. Examples of fast-moving plates with an extensive subduction zone and
margins include the Pacific, Nazca, and Cocos plates.

Although slab pull and ridge push appear to be the dominant forces acting on
plates, they are not the only forces influencing plate motion. Beneath plates,
convective flow in the mantle exerts a force, perhaps best described as "mantle-
drag."

There are driving processes that are involved in the tectonic plate movement.
One of the driving forces is Ridge-Push. See the figure for a visual explanation.

This gravity-driven mechanism results from the elevated position of the mid-
oceanic ridge, which causes slabs of the lithosphere to "slide" down the ridge's
flanks. It is created by tectonic plates moving away from the divergent boundary due
to their higher elevation than the surrounding ocean floor.

This force was the primary contributor to the movement of the plates around
the globe before the 1990s. This belief has now been disproved, with the Slab-Pull
Theory as the primary mechanism.

However, even where there are little or no slab pulls occurring on the plate,
ridge push is still important. Bott (1991) proposed the "gravity sliding" ridge push
model. This geologist states that the "pushing" on the plates is due to differences in
gravitational potential energy between a plate at its spreading center and subduction
zone.

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 Figure 7. Ridge Push Diagram
U.S. Geological Survey, “Ridge Push”, This Dynamic Earth, 2003,
http://www.visionlearning.com/img/library/modules/mid66/Image/VLObject-846-021205021202.gif

Beneath the lithosphere is a zone of soft "plastic" material called the

asthenosphere. This material is less dense than the riding plate above it. It acts as a
massive shear zone for the over-riding plate. The plate will effectively slide down the
slope of the asthenosphere due to the weight difference between the plate and its
spreading center and subduction zone. Since the plate gets thicker and denser, the
farther away from the spreading center, the ridge push force will increase towards
the subduction zone.

3.5 ELABORATE:

PART I: Below is an illustration of the slab pull theory. Complete the illustration by
filling in the box with the appropriate word/words. Choose your answers from
the box below.

SLAB PULL
CONTINENTAL CRUST
OCEANIC CRUST
SUBDUCTION ZONE

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PART II: Briefly answer the question.

1. How can ridge push contribute to the movement of the tectonic plates
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

3.6 EVALUATION:

Direction: Answer the following.

1. Describe the Slab Pull Theory.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

2. A type of convergent boundary where two tectonic plates are

colliding __________________.

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 3. Over what surface do lithospheric plates move?
A. Lower mantle
B. Outer core
C. Inner core
D. Asthenosphere

4. Scientists believe that differences in ____ cause hot plastic-like

rock in the asthenosphere to rise toward the earth's surface.
A. Magnetism
B. Weight
C. Density
D. Force

5. Why do plates sometimes sink into the mantle?

A. Because of convergent boundaries
B. Because they feel like it
C. Because one is cooler, so it sinks first
D. Subduction one plate is denser

3.7 EXTEND:
Activity 1

Direction: Given this picture showing convection current in the mantle, explain how
the lithospheric move.

Figure 8. Whole Mantle Convection

Lutgens et. al, "Whole Mantle Convection", Essentials of Geology. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012

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Activity 2. Identify or describe the given statements.

1. Ridge push
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2. The primary force that generates ridge push

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

3. Type of plate boundary plate where ridge push occurs.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

4. The divergent plate boundary on the seafloor

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

5. The geologist who proposed the "gravity sliding model.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

IV. REFLECTION

I have learned that ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

I wish to ask my teacher about _____________________________________

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

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V. RUBRICS FOR SCORING

Extend – Activity 1

RUBRIC:
With correct and well explained concepts 10 pts
Slightly well explained with some incorrect concepts 7 pts
Not so well explained 5 pts
Totally incorrect explanation, but with effort 3 pts
No explanation at all 0 pt

VI. ANSWER KEY

ELICIT
1. C
2. A
3. B
4. CONVERGENT BOUNDARY
5. DOWNWARD

ENGAGE

1. The sliding of the plates is caused by the mantle’s convection currents slowly
turning over and over like an escalator that moves the plates of the crust.
2. The internal heat of the earth’s core causes molten rock in the mantle layer to
move.

EXPLORE

Activity 1

1. Food color rises and moves to the sides of the beaker then sinks
2. Convection Current
3. The small, light wood blocks resemble the lithospheric/tectonic plates that
moved about slowly because of convection current.

Activity 2
1. Subducting tectonic plate
2. It fell.

Activity 3
1. Divergent Boundaries

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 2. Convection
3. As an oceanic crust moves away from a divergent boundary, it becomes
denser than the newer oceanic crust. As the older seafloor sinks, the weight
of the uplifted ridge pushes the oceanic crust toward the trench at the
subduction zone.

EXPLAIN

PART I

1. Oceanic Crust
2. Continental Crust
3. Subduction Zone
4. Slab Pull

PART II

1. The force acted upon the oceanic crust which produces mid-oceanic ridges
forces the crust to move in separate ways. Thus, there is a movement of the
tectonic plates.

EXTEND

ACTIVITY I
Answers may vary

ACTIVITY II

1. Gravity driven mechanism results from the elevated position of the mid-
oceanic ridge, which causes slabs of lithosphere to “slide down” the flanks of
the ridge.
2. Convection
3. Divergent Boundary
4. Mid-ocean Ridge
5. Bott

ENGAGE
1. States that gravity and the plates themselves are the ones responsible for the
plate tectonics through subduction process.
2. Subduction Zone
3. D
4. C
5. C

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VII. REFERENCES
• Valdoz et. al. 2015. Science Links. Quezon City: Rex Publishing.

• Valdoz et. al. 2015. Science Learner's Materials: Rex Publishing

• Lutgens, et. al. 2012. Essentials of Geology: Pearson Prentice Hall. 11th
Edition

• Lutgens, et. al. 2012. Earth Science: Pearson Prentice Hall. 11th Edition

• Prototype and Contextual Daily Lesson Plans in Grade 10 Science

• CK12,"ConvectionCurrentExperiment",Convection.
https://www.ck12.org/physics/convection/lesson/Convection-MS-PS/

• U.S. Geological Survey, "Ridge Push", This Dynamic Earth, 2003,

http://www.visionlearning.com/img/library/modules/mid66/Image/VLObject-
846-021205021202.gif

• Freepik – Elevator

• https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.freepik.com%2
Ffree-photos-
vectors%2Fescalatorarrow&psig=AOvVaw3ybY_S05Pal26qzP7qnmKw&ust=
1627986549848000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCMj_oN
yQkvICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAa

Writers:

TERESA S. LARA- Teacher III, Perpetual Help National High School

CHONA R. DE LIMA- Teacher II, Perpetual Help National High School

Reviewers:

MANUEL LUIS F. TEODORO- EPS Science, Masbate Province

HELEN Z. CORNELIO- EPS Science, Iriga City
MARNEL M. BULLO- Teacher III, Cataingan NHS
ELENITA P. FABELLA- Master Teacher II, Palanas North CS

Editors:
LOURDES P. CASTROVERDE, Head Teacher III, Science
Zeferino Arroyo High School
MARISOL D. ANDRADA- Master Teacher I, Sto. Niño National High School
ALVIN C. BORROMEO – Principal II, Bantayan NHS, Tabaco City
Layout Artist:
MYLA ANN A. BERNALES- Teacher I, Rinconada National Technical
Vocational School

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