UP:SC15.ESS.12

Students know:

Tectonic plates are the top parts of giant convection cells that bring matter from the hot inner mantle up to the cool surface.
The movements are driven by the release of energy and by the cooling and gravitational downward motion of the dense material of the plates after subduction.

Students are able to:

Develop a model (i.e., graphical, verbal, or mathematical) in which components are described based on seismic and magnetic evidence.
Describe relationships between components in the model such as thermal energy is released at the surface of the Earth as new crust is formed and cooled; the flow of matter by convection in the solid mantle and the sinking of cold, dense crust back into the mantle exert forces on crustal plates that then move, producing tectonic activity; matter is cycled between the crust and the mantle at plate boundaries.

Students understand that:

Evidence from deep probes and seismic waves, reconstructions of historical changes in Earth's surface and its magnetic field, and an understanding of physical and chemical processes lead to a model of Earth with a hot but solid inner core, a liquid outer core, a solid mantle and crust.
Motions of the mantle and its plates occur primarily through thermal convection, which involves the cycling of matter due to the outward flow of energy from Earth's interior and gravitational movement of denser materials toward the interior.
Energy drives the cycling of matter within and between systems.

Developing and Using Models

Patterns