Instructions
Welcome to your first week of Geography! This worksheet will help you understand the basics of Plate Tectonics, the science of how the Earth's crust moves. Please complete the two tasks below.
Task 1: Label the Major Tectonic Plates
Use the word bank below to identify the tectonic plates numbered on the simplified world map. Write the correct name on the line that corresponds to each number.
- African Plate
- Antarctic Plate
- Eurasian Plate
- Indo-Australian Plate
- Nazca Plate
- North American Plate
- Pacific Plate
- South American Plate
| |
| / \ |
| | 1 | 2 |
| \ / |
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
|~ ~ | |
|~ 3 ~ | 4 |
|~ ~ / |
|~ ~ / 5 |
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / 6 \ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
|~ ~ \ / \ |
|~ ~ ~ \ 7 |
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--+
| |
| 8 |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
1. __________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________
6. __________________________________________________
7. __________________________________________________
8. __________________________________________________
Task 2: Shaky Ground and Fiery Mountains
In the space below, write three complete sentences explaining the connection between tectonic plates, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
Answer Key
Task 1: Label the Major Tectonic Plates
- North American Plate
- Eurasian Plate
- Pacific Plate
- African Plate
- Indo-Australian Plate
- Nazca Plate
- South American Plate
- Antarctic Plate
Task 2: Shaky Ground and Fiery Mountains
(Student answers will vary, but should include the main ideas below.)
Example Answer: The Earth's crust is broken into large pieces called tectonic plates that are constantly moving. Earthquakes are caused when these plates get stuck at their edges, build up pressure, and then suddenly slip past one another, releasing massive amounts of energy. Volcanoes often form at these same plate boundaries where magma from beneath the crust can rise to the surface.