HS - ESS2.B (B) - Plate Tectonics and Earth's Features - FINAL (RC 4/7/2014)

Module: Plate Tectonics and Earth’s Features

ESS2.B.1:  The radioactive decay of unstable isotopes continually generates new energy within Earth’s crust and mantle, providing the primary source of the heat that drives mantle convection. Plate tectonics can be viewed as the surface expression of mantle convection. (HS-ESS2-3)

PE:HS – ESS2-3 – Develop a model based on evidence of Earth’s interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on both a one-dimensional model of Earth, with radial layers determined by density, and a three-dimensional model, which is controlled by mantle convection and the resulting plate tectonics. Examples of evidence include maps of Earth’s three-dimensional structure obtained from seismic waves, records of the rate of change of Earth’s magnetic field (as constraints on convection in the outer core), and identification of the composition of Earth’s layers from high-pressure laboratory experiments.]

DCI: ESS2.B (B) Plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains the past and current movements of the rocks at Earth’s surface and provides a framework for understanding its geologic history. Plate movements are responsible for most continental and ocean-floor features and for the distribution of most rocks and minerals within Earth’s crust.

PE: HS-ESS2-1 Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.

[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how the appearance of land features (such as mountains, valleys, and plateaus) and sea-floor features (such as trenches, ridges, and seamounts) are a result of both constructive forces (such as volcanism, tectonic uplift, and orogeny) and destructive mechanisms (such as weathering, mass wasting, and coastal erosion).] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include memorization of the details of the formation of specific geographic features of Earth’s surface.]

There are lots of ideas in this one: 

- new energy is being continually generated in the Earth's core by the process of radioactive decay of unstable isotopes

- this process provides the heat which is moved through the mantle by convection 

- plate tectonics can be seen as a surface expression of mantle convection 

We can address this easily, but just asking some basic mechanics about convection in the mantle.

- plate tectonics is a unifying theory that explains the past and current movements of the rocks at Earth's surface

- plate tectonics also gives us a framework for understanding the Earth's history

- we can attribute continental and ocean floor features to the movement of tectonic plates

This one is easy too, we are basically able to tie any geologic feature back to the movement of tectonic plates.