Unit Plan 11 (Grade 6 Science): Plate Tectonics & Earth’s Internal Heat

Focus: Explain how Earth’s internal heat drives plate motions and geoscience processes (earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain-building, seafloor spreading) that change Earth’s surface at different spatial and temporal scales.

Grade Level: 6

Subject Area: Science (Earth & Space Science — Earth’s Systems)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students explore plate tectonics as a powerful system driven by Earth’s internal heat. Through models, maps, and case studies, they investigate how convection in the mantle moves rigid tectonic plates, creating earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges, trenches, and mid-ocean ridges. Students compare geoscience processes that act suddenly (earthquakes, eruptions) with those that act over millions of years (continent movement, uplift) and learn to construct explanations that connect evidence (maps, data, visuals) to changes on Earth’s surface at different scales.

Essential Questions

• How does heat inside Earth help move tectonic plates?
• What geoscience processes (earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain-building, seafloor spreading) change Earth’s surface, and where do they happen?
• How do plate boundaries (divergent, convergent, transform) relate to patterns of earthquakes and volcanoes?
• Why do some changes to Earth’s surface happen quickly, while others take millions of years?
• How can we use models and maps as evidence to explain how plate tectonics shapes Earth’s surface at different spatial and temporal scales?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Describe Earth’s interior layers and explain how internal heat and mantle convection contribute to plate motion.
2. Identify major tectonic plates and plate boundaries on a world map and relate them to patterns of earthquakes and volcanoes.
3. Distinguish between divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries and the surface features they create (e.g., mid-ocean ridges, mountains, trenches, faults).
4. Compare geoscience processes that change Earth’s surface at different time scales (seconds to millions of years) and spatial scales (local fault vs. global plate).
5. Construct a written or visual explanation using evidence from models and maps for how plate tectonics changes Earth’s surface at multiple scales, aligned with MS-ESS2-2.

Standards Alignment — 6th Grade (NGSS-based custom)

• MS-ESS2-2 — Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying spatial and temporal scales.
  • In this unit: students use plate tectonic models, boundary maps, and event data to explain how internal heat–driven plate motions produce landforms and hazards over short and long time frames.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can describe Earth’s layers and explain how internal heat and mantle convection help move tectonic plates.
• I can locate major plates and boundaries on a map and connect them to earthquake and volcano patterns.
• I can explain how different boundary types (divergent, convergent, transform) create specific surface features.
• I can give examples of geoscience processes that act quickly and slowly, and explain what changes they cause on Earth’s surface.
• I can write or present an explanation that uses models, maps, and data to show how plate tectonics changes Earth’s surface at different scales.