Tectonic plate

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/tectonic-plate

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the lithosphere structure?Composed of the crust and uppermost mantle, broken into rigid tectonic plates
2. What is the driving mechanism?Mantle convection currents, slab pull, and ridge push forces
3. What are tectonic plates?Tectonic plates are rigid, brittle sections of Earth's lithosphere, made of crust and upper mantle, that float and move on the asthenosphere.
4. How do tectonic plates move?They move because of mantle convection currents; hot, less dense material rises and cool, denser material sinks, dragging the plates.

Lithosphere: The rigid outer layer of Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
Mantle Convection: The slow circulation of heat within Earth's mantle, driving plate movement.
Subduction: The process where one tectonic plate sinks beneath another at a convergent boundary.