I have used this cracker activity with my class, but in place of soup I use chocolate pudding because of its thicker consistency. Could you equate the convection currents that cause the "rolling" which moves the crackers to the mantle - explaining to students that the mantle is gel-like and when it is liquid like it is called magma.
I then tie in convection currents and their importance to heat transfer, the sun, and ocean currents as we study other units throughout the year. This method seems to give the students a "Big Idea" of science.
----- Original Message -----
From: Melissa McCann
To: channel-talkearthspace@learner.org
Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 8:21 PM
Subject: [Channel-talkearthspace] session 4
First off, thank you, Monica, for posting your Power Point presentations. They will come in handy this year when I teach Earth science for the first time.
Regarding session 4 and how to introduce plate tectonics to students so they may learn from observation, I have 2 ideas.
1) Heat a pot of soup with crackers floating on top. Cover, or nearly cover the surface with the crackers. Observe the crackers move relative to one another as the soup heats and bubbles.
2) Observe a pond with lily pads floating on it. Turn on the fountain or toss in a stone to see how the postions of the lily pads are affected.
While these suggestions may simulate how the tectonic plates shift relative to one another, I am not sure what to suggest to represent the composition of the mantle.
Any other ideas?
Melissa
Massachusetts
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Received on Wed Jul 5 11:42:03 2006
