Have your students use this Google Map that shows different features on Earth that are related to Plate Tectonics – mid-ocean ridges, deep trenches, and volcanoes related to subduction. The Earth’s hotspot volcanoes are also marked – which can be used to see the movement of plates above.
Each of these features is in separate layers that you can turn on and off.
Students can get access to the map using this link:
https://tinyurl.com/GEOetc-PTFeatures
By clicking the menu icon in the top left corner of the map you can turn on and off the layers.
Activity ideas
- Have students look at each layer in turn and look for patterns they see in the data? Can they see, for ample, why it is called the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’ when they examine the volcanoes data?
- What patterns do they notice using two layers? For example, is there a relationship between deep ocean trenches and volcanoes? Is there a relationship between mid-ocean ridges and any other layer?
- Have students zoom in and look at the Hawaiian hotspot. Have then zoom out and look to the northwest of the islands. What features can they see underwater? Can they follow that pattern very far? Where does the pattern end? Is it linear?
Earth’s Plate Tectonic Features – ld