Tectonic Rocks! Marine Extensions

Earth & Environmental Sciences
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Created by
Let's Talk Science National Office
Activity Language
English
Grade
Grades 7-8,  Grades 9-10
Time Needed for Activity
1-2 hours
Subjects
Earth and Environmental Sciences
National Office Lending Library Kit

Participants explore plate tectonics and mapping of the Earth's crust with a focus on marine sciences and applications.

In this workshop, participants gain an understanding of plate tectonics by participating in a role-play demonstrating convergent, divergent and transform plate movements. They will create a map of the sea floor based on data collected by NEPTUNE Canada’s Wally crawlers and the ROPOS submersible. They will work in groups to create a graph of the contours of the ocean floor. Lastly, participants will make a bathymetric map of their ‘ocean’ floor, helping to understand how these maps are created.

What You Need

Physical Requirements 

  • For Activity 1: Become a Plate Boundary, you will need an open space for participants to stand.
  • Access to water is essential for Activity 3: Mapping the Seafloor and Bathymetric Map Making.

Activity 1: Become a Plate Boundary

Activity 2: Wally and ROPOS path 

Activity 3a: Mapping the Seafloor 

  • Sea floor containers (8)
  • Blue food colouring
  • Modeling clay (16 packages)
  • Tiles (16)
  • Wooden measurement sticks (1 per participant)
  • Ocean Floor Profile Graph (1 per participant) 
  • Markers/pencils 
  • Task cards (8)
  • Tennis ball (optional)

Activity 3b: Bathymetric Map Making

  • Picture of bathymetric map
  • Wooden measurement sticks (8) 
  • Sea floor containers (8)
  • Sea floor containers (8)
  • Blue food colouring 
  • Modeling clay (16 packages)
  • Tiles (16)
  • Basters (8)
  • Overhead sheets (8)
  • Washable overhead markers (8)
  • Sets of crayons, blue, red, yellow, green (8 sets)
  • Rulers (8)
  • Paper towel 
  • Task cards (8)
  • Paper (optional)

Guide:

Safety Notes

Keep electronics away from water. Have paper towels on hand to clean any spills.

What To Do

Activity Prep

  • Print Grid worksheets and Ocean Floor Profile grids (1 per participant). 

Activity 1: Become a Plate Boundary 

  • Discuss the three types of plate boundaries (convergent, divergent and conservative/transform boundaries).
  • Have participants gather in a circle. Ask three volunteers to demonstrate each type of plate boundary using the instructions below. As they are acting out the motions, explain how each boundary is formed. 
    • Continental Convergent Boundary: Person in middle standing up, persons on the outside kneeling and putting their hands on the middle person’s hips (a mountain). 
    • Subduction Zone: Person in the middle crouches down, and the left person arks over crouched person, right person arcs arms over the whole group (a cross-section of the subduction zone).
    • Divergent Plate Boundary: Person in the middle stands up tall, with their arms out and the people on the right and left crouch down facing away from the person in the middle (new crust forming).
    • Transform/Conservative Boundary: Person in the middle holds arms out to the front and back. People on the sides move forward and back in relation to the arm closest to them, representing the sliding action of the plates.

To Play the Game 

  • One person stands in the middle of the circle and spins around and randomly points to a person; the ‘pointee’. 
  • The pointer immediately yells one of the boundaries and the group of three must do the correct movement (the ‘pointee’ is the middle person of all the sets). If one person makes an error or moves too slowly, they switch places with the person in the middle. 
  • Advise the pointer to be as tricky as they can, as the object of the game is to get out of the middle of the circle.

Activity 2: Wally and the ROPOS Path

  • Separate participants into groups of four. Provide each participant with a grid handout. 
  • Show the picture of Wally, a robotic crawler used by scientists from Ocean Networks Canada.
  • Show the picture of ROPOS (Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Sciences) owned by the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility.  
  • Give each group an envelope of information sent in from Wally and ROPOS.
  • Explain that each piece of information relates to an overall map of the sea floor. 
  • They will pull 12 cards from an envelope and map (draw) the seafloor features using the coordinates on the images they select. This will give them a partial map of the sea floor.
  • When they are finished mapping individually, discuss where they would put a research platform.

Activity 3a: Mapping the Seafloor 

  • Explain how sailors would historically measure the depth of water (plumb line) and the problems that occurred with this method.
  • Separate participants into pairs. Give each pair a tile and a package of modeling clay.
  • Explain that the container represents the surface of the ocean floor. They are going to replicate the original mapping style and make a transect of the ocean floor. To do this, they will:
    • Use the modelling clay to create a seafloor on their tile (saving two small pieces for later).
    • Pair up with another group. They will put both tiles into a container and use the remaining modeling clay to tilt the tiles (to form a valley). 
    • Fill the container with water and add a few drops of food colouring. 
    • Insert the measuring instrument until it touches the bottom of the container and record the depth at each point using the scale on the instrument. 
    • Continue to insert the instrument every one centimetre across the container. Each person should measure across a different path. 
    • Plot their measurements on the graph. This will create a profile of their sea floor. 
    • Compare their map to the other group members. Allow them to discuss problems that could arise when shipping if the graphs do not match. 
  • Explain how sonar and sound locating is used to provide us with a more accurate image of the sea floor. 

Activity 3b: Bathymetric Map Making

  • Introduce how bathymetric maps are made and what they are used for. 
  • Show examples of bathymetric maps (Maps 1-3). Explain that the colours on the map represent different depths on a spectrum.
    • Red= shallow
    • Blue/purple= deep
  • To create a bathymetric map of their sea floor, the participants will:
    • Lay an overhead sheet over the top of their ‘ocean’ and mark the corners of the container on the overhead for reference. 
    • Trace around any landforms that show above the water. 
    • Hold the ruler up against the container and use the syringe to siphon off 2cm of water. 
    • Lay the same overhead sheet back on top of the container using the corner marks to line it up and trace over the shape of the newly exposed landforms. 
    • Continue mapping the landforms for every 2cm of depth until they run out of water. 
    • Trace the lines from the overhead sheet onto paper. These lines are the contour lines of the landforms. 

Wrap-Up

  • Discuss possible careers related to the topics discussed in today’s workshop and what they will need to do (education, experience, etc…) to get into those careers.

Discovery

Activity 1: Become a Plate Boundary

Plates Tectonics Theory states that the Earth’s outer rigid lithosphere (crust and mantle) consists of individual segments or plates. The areas where tectonic plates and the mantle interact with each other are called plate boundaries. There are three types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent and transform (conservative) boundaries. 

  • Convergent Plate Boundary: occurs where two plates are moving towards each other. One plate will go under the other and melt into the mantle and become part of the rock cycle again.
    • When two continental plates meet or collide (continental convergent boundary), the plate material gets buckled and folded upwards, resulting in the formation of mountains. Earthquakes may occur.
    • When a continental plate collides with an oceanic plate (subduction zone), the oceanic plate is pushed under the continental plate due to density. The oceanic plate reheats as it reaches the mantle. As the continental plate moves, it peels the top layer off the oceanic plate. 
    • When two oceanic plates collide, one is usually pushed under the other one (subduction zone). The sinking plate will melt and form a volcano (and island arcs) when there is high pressure.
  • Divergent Plate Boundary: occurs when plates move away from each other.
    • Underwater: hot magma instantly comes to the surface and creates a new ocean floor. 
    • On land: the crust splits open to allow magma out. This may occur slowly (hot springs) or violently (new volcano erupts along with earthquakes). 
  • Conservative/Transform Plate Boundary: Occurs when plates slide alongside each other, resulting in earthquakes and/or the pulverization of the rocks at the edges (faults).

Activity 2: Wally and ROPOS Path

Ocean Networks Canada uses a deep sea ocean crawler called Wally to gather information along the ocean floor where it is too deep for humans to access. They also use a machine called ROPOS (Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Sciences, developed by the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility) to gather information along the ocean floor. ROPOS is operated from a ship and has a variety of cameras that take live videos and images. 

The presence of certain features along the ocean floor provides clues regarding the plate boundaries below. For example, pillow basalts are a result of lava coming into contact with cold water. Whereas hydrothermal vents occur when water seeps into the Earth’s crust and comes in contact with magma (less than 1km below the surface). 

Activity 3: Mapping the Seafloor 

The limitation to mapping the seafloor using a plumb line is that it only provides a single profile point of the sea floor. Each group member ends up with a different graph even though they all took measurements in the same “ocean”. 

Bathymetric map shows all the submerged topography and physical features of the seafloor. Bathymetric maps are the ocean equivalent of topographic maps. They are extremely helpful when studying geology and plate tectonics because they allow us to create an image of the sea floor. The depths of the ocean are represented by different colors along a spectrum (i.e. red is shallow, purple is deep). Bathymetric maps are usually made by sending out more than one beam of sound in a sweeping pattern that is translated into an image. In this activity, the features furthest away takes the longest time to be revealed, just as the sound from sonar would take the longest to come back. 

The ocean is an amazing place with unique tectonic features. Much of the ocean remains unexplored and undocumented. Specialized technology such as Wally, ROPOS and sonar allow us to explore the depths of the ocean unlike ever before. This means that if you want to become a geologist or an oceanographer, you may be the first person to find and discover new geological processes and evidence.

  • Refer to Tectonic Rocks! manual for information on plate tectonics on land and parallel activities to the ones listed in this manual. Facilitators may decide to mix and match activities from both manuals based on the learning objectives of the visit.
  • To make the role play game in Activity 1: Become a Plate Boundary, instruct the participants to use only the abbreviation of each plate boundary. For example, continental convergent boundary becomes CCB.
  • For Activity 3b: Bathymetric Map Making, participants may transfer the image to a sheet of white paper to colour it. They will need pencil crayons or crayons for this activity. To trace the map onto a sheet of paper, they can tape the acetate to a window and put the paper on top, the sunlight should allow the acetate image to shine through. 
  • Life in the Deep Sea (Backgrounders) provides information about the unique creatures that live in deep sea ecosystems. 
  • Human Exploration of the Deep Ocean (Backgrounders) provides information on how humans explore the deep ocean and what they have learned. 
  • Monitoring the Ocean with Radar (Backgrounders) provides information on how a special type of radar helps to monitor and protect Canada’s oceans. 

What's Happening?

Activity 1: Become a Plate Boundary

Plates Tectonics Theory states that the Earth’s outer rigid lithosphere (crust and mantle) consists of individual segments or plates. The areas where tectonic plates and the mantle interact with each other are called plate boundaries. There are three types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent and transform (conservative) boundaries. 

  • Convergent Plate Boundary: occurs where two plates are moving towards each other. One plate will go under the other and melt into the mantle and become part of the rock cycle again.
    • When two continental plates meet or collide (continental convergent boundary), the plate material gets buckled and folded upwards, resulting in the formation of mountains. Earthquakes may occur.
    • When a continental plate collides with an oceanic plate (subduction zone), the oceanic plate is pushed under the continental plate due to density. The oceanic plate reheats as it reaches the mantle. As the continental plate moves, it peels the top layer off the oceanic plate. 
    • When two oceanic plates collide, one is usually pushed under the other one (subduction zone). The sinking plate will melt and form a volcano (and island arcs) when there is high pressure.
  • Divergent Plate Boundary: occurs when plates move away from each other.
    • Underwater: hot magma instantly comes to the surface and creates a new ocean floor. 
    • On land: the crust splits open to allow magma out. This may occur slowly (hot springs) or violently (new volcano erupts along with earthquakes). 
  • Conservative/Transform Plate Boundary: Occurs when plates slide alongside each other, resulting in earthquakes and/or the pulverization of the rocks at the edges (faults).

Activity 2: Wally and ROPOS Path

Ocean Networks Canada uses a deep sea ocean crawler called Wally to gather information along the ocean floor where it is too deep for humans to access. They also use a machine called ROPOS (Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Sciences, developed by the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility) to gather information along the ocean floor. ROPOS is operated from a ship and has a variety of cameras that take live videos and images. 

The presence of certain features along the ocean floor provides clues regarding the plate boundaries below. For example, pillow basalts are a result of lava coming into contact with cold water. Whereas hydrothermal vents occur when water seeps into the Earth’s crust and comes in contact with magma (less than 1km below the surface). 

Activity 3: Mapping the Seafloor 

The limitation to mapping the seafloor using a plumb line is that it only provides a single profile point of the sea floor. Each group member ends up with a different graph even though they all took measurements in the same “ocean”. 

Bathymetric map shows all the submerged topography and physical features of the seafloor. Bathymetric maps are the ocean equivalent of topographic maps. They are extremely helpful when studying geology and plate tectonics because they allow us to create an image of the sea floor. The depths of the ocean are represented by different colors along a spectrum (i.e. red is shallow, purple is deep). Bathymetric maps are usually made by sending out more than one beam of sound in a sweeping pattern that is translated into an image. In this activity, the features furthest away takes the longest time to be revealed, just as the sound from sonar would take the longest to come back. 

Why Does it Matter?

The ocean is an amazing place with unique tectonic features. Much of the ocean remains unexplored and undocumented. Specialized technology such as Wally, ROPOS and sonar allow us to explore the depths of the ocean unlike ever before. This means that if you want to become a geologist or an oceanographer, you may be the first person to find and discover new geological processes and evidence.

Investigate Further

  • Refer to Tectonic Rocks! manual for information on plate tectonics on land and parallel activities to the ones listed in this manual. Facilitators may decide to mix and match activities from both manuals based on the learning objectives of the visit.
  • To make the role play game in Activity 1: Become a Plate Boundary, instruct the participants to use only the abbreviation of each plate boundary. For example, continental convergent boundary becomes CCB.
  • For Activity 3b: Bathymetric Map Making, participants may transfer the image to a sheet of white paper to colour it. They will need pencil crayons or crayons for this activity. To trace the map onto a sheet of paper, they can tape the acetate to a window and put the paper on top, the sunlight should allow the acetate image to shine through. 
  • Life in the Deep Sea (Backgrounders) provides information about the unique creatures that live in deep sea ecosystems. 
  • Human Exploration of the Deep Ocean (Backgrounders) provides information on how humans explore the deep ocean and what they have learned. 
  • Monitoring the Ocean with Radar (Backgrounders) provides information on how a special type of radar helps to monitor and protect Canada’s oceans. 

Resources

Web

Gondwana - Encyclopædia Britannica 

N.O.A.A. Ocean Explorer, Learning Ocean Science through Ocean Exploration. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Lithosphere - National Geographic Encyclopedia 

National Park Service, U.S department of interior. Pillow basalt faq. 

Platetectonics.com - Plate boundaries. 

Sea floor spreading with Bill Nye

Attachments