STO.

DOMINGO NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL

SUBJECT AREA: EARTH SCIENCE
S.Y. 2021-2022
LAS WEEK 4
NAME: ____________________________________ SCORE: __________________________________
SECTION: _________________________________ PARENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________

EVIDENCES OF EARTH’S MECHANISM 3. Glaciers

Learning Competencies:
- explain how seafloor spreads (S11ES-IIf-32)
- explain how the movement of plates leads to the
formation of folds, faults, trenches, volcanoes, rift
valleys, and mountain ranges (S11ES-IIg-h-34)
A. CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
- 250 million years ago, all of the continents were
combined into one super-continent called
“Pangaea”
- Proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912
- gradually drifted apart to where they are today
- Traces of glaciers found in many tropical regions of Earth
- When continents drifted apart, glaciers melted away
- Glaciers leave tracks, scouring and polishing rock surfaces
4. Rocks
- Similar rock structures found on different continents:
- Rocks found in Appalachian Mountains similar to rocks in
Greenland and Western Europe
- Rock structures from eastern South America similar to
western Africa

Alfred Wegener’s hypothesis

- The hypothesis that Pangaea broke apart into
continents.

5. Climates
- Fossils of warm-weather plants found on Spitsbergen (an
island in the Arctic Ocean)
- Spitsbergen Island might have drifted to the Arctic from a
tropical region of Earth

Evidences to Support the Theory

1. Puzzle Piece - Continents look like they could be part of a
giant jigsaw puzzle

B. SEAFLOOR SPREADING
Sea-Floor Spreading – Harry Hess in the 1960’s; the process
that continually adds new material to the ocean floor while
pushing older rocks away from the ridge

2. Distribution of Fossils
- Plant and animal fossils found on the coastlines of
different continents
- Mesosaurus (reptile that lives on land and fresh water)
found in South America and Africa
- Glossopteris (plant) found on Africa, Australia, Asia, South
America and Antarctica

Mid-Ocean Ridge – the longest chain of mountains in the

world---these are divergent plate boundaries.

Prepared:
GRACIE ANN M. DY
 STO. DOMINGO NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL
SUBJECT AREA: EARTH SCIENCE
S.Y. 2021-2022
LAS WEEK 4
NAME: ____________________________________ SCORE: __________________________________
SECTION: _________________________________ PARENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________

4. Subduction – Process by which the ocean floor sinks

beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle;
allows part of the ocean floor to sink back into the mantle

Deep-Ocean Trench – Occurs at subduction zones. Deep

underwater canyons form where oceanic crust bends
downward
- Ocean floor moves like a conveyor belt carrying
continents with it.
- New ocean floor forms along cracks in the ocean
crust as molten material erupts from the mantle
spreading out and pushing older rocks to the sides
of the crack. New ocean floor is continually added
by the process of sea-floor spreading.
3. PLATE TECTONICS THEORY
Evidences of Seafloor Spreading
1. Evidence from Molten Material – Rocks shaped like
pillows (rock pillows) show that molten material has erupted
again and again from cracks along the mid-ocean ridge and
cooled quickly
2. Evidence from Magnetic Stripes – Rocks that make up the
ocean floor lie in a pattern of magnetized stripes which hold
a record of the reversals in Earth’s magnetic field
• The theory of plate tectonics is one of the great
advances in the twentieth century. In the 1960's,
scientist such as Alfred Wegener proposed the
“continental drift theory”, and Tuzo Wilson put
forth the idea that, “Earth consisted of several
different fragments called plates, instead of being
made up of one static, rigid, solid layer.” This
revolutionized the way scientist think of Earth
today.
A Tectonic Plate is a massive, irregularly
shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of
both continental and oceanic lithosphere. Plate
size varies from a few hundred to thousands of
kilometers across, the Pacific and Antarctic are
among the largest.
These massive slabs seem to float because
of their composition. Continental crust is
composed of Granitic rocks which are made of
lighter minerals and are less dense than the oceanic
crust which is composed of denser and heavier
basaltic rocks.

3. Evidence from Drilling Samples – Core samples from the

ocean floor show that older rocks are found farther from the
ridge; youngest rocks are in the center of the ridge

Why is it important for us to study the so-called plate

boundaries?
Studying plate boundaries is important because
along these boundaries deformation of the lithosphere is

Prepared:
GRACIE ANN M. DY
 STO. DOMINGO NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL
SUBJECT AREA: EARTH SCIENCE
S.Y. 2021-2022
LAS WEEK 4
NAME: ____________________________________ SCORE: __________________________________
SECTION: _________________________________ PARENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________

happening. These geologic events have great impact not only 3 TYPES OF CPB
on the environment but also on us.
A. Converging Continental Plate and Oceanic Plate
MAJOR PLATES – gives rise to the (1) formation of a volcanic arc
- area greater than 10 million km2 near the edge of a continental leading plate. The
1. Pacific Plates – 103,300,000 km2 denser oceanic crust undergoes subduction process
2. North American Plate – 75,900,000 km2 (bending of the crust towards the mantle). (2).
3. Eurasian Plate – 67,800,000 km2 TRENCH or the submarine valley. It is the deepest
4. African Plate – 61,300,000 km2 part of the ocean.
5. Antarctic Plate – 60, 900, 000 km2
6. Australian Plate – 47,000,000 km2
7. South American Plate – 43, 600,000 km2
8. Somali Plate – 16,700,000 km2
9. Nazca Plate – 15, 600,000 km2
10. Indian Plate – 11,900,000 km2
B.Convergence of Two Oceanic Plates – collision of
MINOR PLATES two oceanic plates with one of the plate diving
1. Philippine Sea Plate – 5,500,000 km2 under the other.
2. Arabian Plate – 5,000,000 km2
3. Caribbean Plate – 3,300,000 km2
4. Cocos Plate – 2,900,000 km2
5. Caroline Plate – 1,700,000 km2
6. Scotia Plate – 1,600,000 km2
7. Burma Plate – 1,100,000 km2
8. New Hebrides Plate – 1,100,000 km2
C. Converging of Two Continental Plates – when two plates
TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARIES collide, it formed a group of tall mountains called mountain
ranges.

C. TRANSFORM PLATE BOUNDARIES – plates slide pass each

other. It is located within the ocean basin but there are few
a.DIVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARIES – wherein that cut through the continental crust like the famous San
plates moves apart creating a zone of tension Andreas Fault.
therefore resulting in the formation of (a) rift
valleys and (b) oceanic ridges (underwater
mountain ranges).

Write your answer in a separate sheet of paper.

b.CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARIES – two plates

are moving toward each other or collide with each
other.
Prepared:
GRACIE ANN M. DY
 STO. DOMINGO NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL
SUBJECT AREA: EARTH SCIENCE
S.Y. 2021-2022
LAS WEEK 4
NAME: ____________________________________ SCORE: __________________________________
SECTION: _________________________________ PARENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________

ACTIVITY : PLATE TECTONICS 3.Let’s rock! Examine the evidence and try to match up
landmass boundaries that show similar rock strata,
Solve the puzzle to discover what the Earth looked like 220 fossilized desert belts, and dinosaur fossils.
million years ago.
4.Hold that Pose. Look over the arrangement of the continents
and islands and decideif the position of any of them should
1.What’s the code? Use the legend to identify the symbols on
change. When you are satisfied with your map of Pangaea,
each island or continent.
tape or glue it down.
2.Puzzle me this. Look at the shapes of continents and
islands. What landmasses seemto fit together?

A Plate Tectonics Puzzle

LEGEND

India

Prepared:
GRACIE ANN M. DY
 STO. DOMINGO NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL
SUBJECT AREA: EARTH SCIENCE
S.Y. 2021-2022
LAS WEEK 4
NAME: ____________________________________ SCORE: __________________________________
SECTION: _________________________________ PARENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________

LANDMASSES TO CUT OUT

Prepared:
GRACIE ANN M. DY
 STO. DOMINGO NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL
SUBJECT AREA: EARTH SCIENCE
S.Y. 2021-2022
LAS WEEK 4
NAME: ____________________________________ SCORE: __________________________________
SECTION: _________________________________ PARENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________

ACTIVITY: SEAFLOOR SPEADING MODEL

Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to make a simple model that shows the evolution
of oceanic crust through sea-floor spreading.

Materials:

▪ Model of Seafloor Spreading templates [one with three straight lines and another
with striped bands or striped bands with arrows]
▪ Colored pencils or crayons
▪ Scissors
▪ Transparent tape

Procedures:

▪ Give each student or small group of students a Seafloor Spreading template sheet
A.
▪ With a pair of scissors, cut the vertical lines so there will be three slits on the
paper all the same height and parallel to each other. You may need to bend the
paper at the lines to start the cutting process. DO NOT cut further than the black
lines. To reinforce the slits you have made, place tape over each one and re-cut
the slit through the tape.
▪ Give each student or small group of students a Seafloor Spreading template sheet
B or C. Use sheet B if you do not want to confuse the students or discuss the
changes in the magnetic field with students. Use sheet C if your students
understand the changes in the magnetic field. On Sheet B or Sheet C, have
students color every other striped band. See the image below. To save time, you
may want to instruct one group member to complete this step while the other
group member is completing the previous step.

▪ Cut the Seafloor Spreading template B or C paper in half along the dotted line.
▪ Insert one end of one of the strips of paper through the spreading center line
on your Seafloor Spreading Template Sheet A.
▪ Pull each strip of paper towards the slits nearest the margins of the paper. Tape
Prepared:
GRACIE ANN M. DY
 STO. DOMINGO NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL
SUBJECT AREA: EARTH SCIENCE
S.Y. 2021-2022
LAS WEEK 4
NAME: ____________________________________ SCORE: __________________________________
SECTION: _________________________________ PARENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________

each strip to make a loop as shown in the diagram below.

▪ Circulate the ribbons of paper to simulate the movement that occurs during
seafloor spreading.
▪ Use your Seafloor Spreading Model to answer the questions on the next sheet.

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What does the center slit in the model represent?

2. What do the strips of paper represent?

3. Looking at your model in its current position, describe the “oldest” sections.
Explain your answer.

4. Seafloor spreading is the creation of .

5. Based on your understanding of Seafloor Spreading, does the earth get bigger?
Why or Why Not?

Prepared:
GRACIE ANN M. DY
 STO. DOMINGO NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL
SUBJECT AREA: EARTH SCIENCE
S.Y. 2021-2022
LAS WEEK 4
NAME: ____________________________________ SCORE: __________________________________
SECTION: _________________________________ PARENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________

Prepared:
GRACIE ANN M. DY