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Island Chains and Ancient Ice: Clues to Moving Plates

Grade 7 earth science: analyze rock ages along a volcanic island chain and ancient climate rocks to argue that plates and continents have moved.

Grade 7ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned toMS-ESS2-3

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
10 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 7
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use rock ages along a volcanic island chain to find the speed and direction of plate motion.
Students use coal and glacial deposits as evidence that continents were once in different places.

How to use

Read the cruise log together and sketch the island chain on the board with distances. Students then answer on their own and share their evidence for the open response.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

MS-ESS2-3

Use fossil, rock and seafloor data as evidence of past plate motions.

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Island Chains and Ancient Ice: Clues to Moving Plates

Use volcano ages and old climate rocks to track how plates have moved.

A chain of volcanoes

Read the cruise log and study the sample table. Then answer the questions.

Cruise Log: Following the Island Chain

1Jonah Whitfield spent two weeks this summer in a student program aboard a research ship in the Pacific Ocean, working with marine geologist Dr. Mele Tupou. The ship followed a long, nearly straight chain of volcanic islands and underwater mountains called seamounts. Only the volcano at the southeast end of the chain is active today. Lava still flows from it into the sea. Jonah's job was to label each rock sample, write down where it came from and help measure how high or deep each volcano's top was.

2Dr. Tupou explained that a hot spot lies under the active volcano. A hot spot is a place where unusually hot rock rises from deep in the mantle, and it stays in about the same place for millions of years. Magma from the hot spot rises through the plate above it and builds a volcano. Over time, the moving plate carries that volcano away from the hot spot, and a new volcano starts to grow in its place. Once a volcano has moved off the hot spot, it stops erupting. Waves, rain and rivers wear it down, and the cooling seafloor under it slowly sinks.

3The crew collected volcanic rock from the active volcano and from four older volcanoes to its northwest. Back in the lab, the rock ages were found. The table shows each site's distance from the active volcano and the height of its highest point compared with sea level.