LESSON 1

EARTH’S MOVING
SURFACE

BY:
JERELYN V. BUENAFE
Learning Targets:
The students will be able to:

 State and explain the Plate Tectonics Theory

 Name the seven major plates of the world and
the eight other large plates
 Name the three types of plate boundaries;
distinguish one from the other
 Explain the reason for plate movement
What do you think?
Before you read, decide if you AGREE or DISAGREE with
each of these statements.

1. Earth’s surface is made up of tectonic plates.

2. Tectonic plate motion is too slow to measure.

 PLATE
TECTONICS
15 Major Tectonic Plates
 What is “PLATE TECTONICS”?
(tek TAH nihks) states that Earth’s
surface is broken into large , rigid
pieces that move with respect to
each other
Earth’s crust and upper mantle are
broken into sections called PLATES
Plates move around on top of the
mantle like rafts
What is the Lithosphere?

 The crust and part of the upper

mantle = lithosphere
100 km thick
Less dense than the material
below it so it “floats”
What is the Asthenosphere?

 The plastic layer below

the lithosphere =
asthenosphere
 The plates of the
lithosphere float on the
asthenosphere
 2 Types of Plates:

• Ocean plates – plates

below the oceans

• Continental plates - plates

below the continents
PLATE BOUNDARIES

 DIVERGENT

 CONVERGENT

 TRANSFORM
CONVERGENT BOUNDARY
-Plates move towards each other
DIVERGENT BOUNDARY
-Plates move away from each other
TRANSFORM BOUNDARY
-Two plates slide past towards
each other
Why do tectonic plates move?
 CONVECTION
-Occurs because of differences in
temperature and density

-Forms circular currents that can drag

plates across Earth’s surface
 SUBDUCTION
-Occurs when one tectonic plate
moves under another tectonic plate
What do you think?
Before you read, decide if you AGREE or DISAGREE with
each of these statements.
1. Earth’s surface is made up of tectonic plates.
–AGREE

2. Tectonic plate motion is too slow to measure.

-DISAGREE