Tectonic plates - Room 12's models with eggs, mandarins, play dough and Oreo cookies!

This week Room 12 have been learning about what is inside the earth and how tectonic plates have shaped the land and created land features over millions of years.

We have read about it, discussed it and we have focussed on how to make models to show our understanding.

We looked at the three types of tectonic plate boundaries and how they move:

A divergent plate boundary is formed when plates move away from each other causing rift valleys, under water mountain ranges and volcanoes.

A convergent plate boundary is formed when plates move towards each other and cause mountains and volcanoes.

A transform plate boundary is when plates move past each other, these form faults in the earths crust which is where the crust cracks and causes earth quakes.

First we used a boiled egg chopped in half as a model for the crust, mantle and the core.

Then we used a mandarin skin to show tectonic plate boundaries and how they move against or away from each other.

We then used playdough to make models of the way tectonic plates move and the four types of volcanoes we have been learning about:

Cinder cone volcano

Composite volcano (Strato volcano)

Shield volcano 

Lava dome

Finally... we used an Oreo cookie as a model for tectonic plates, we like to call them tectonic Oreos now, Yum!