Q&A

What is happening at the edge of the graham crackers?

What is happening at the edge of the graham crackers?

When the crackers edge crumbles together and raises up, you have made a mountain range! This is how the Himalayas formed. Sometimes convergent boundaries can turn into subduction zones! Push the two crackers together, making one slide underneath the other.

What have you noticed when two graham crackers are moving towards each other?

When two plates move toward each other, they can either collide forming mountains or one plate can slide under the other at the subduction zone. To model when two continental plates collide to form mountains, I quickly dipped one end of each graham cracker in water.

Why do the graham crackers push against each other what geologic process is that called?

The top graham cracker pieces represent the tectonic plates. When the plates run into each other and push each other up, that is convergence, and it can cause mountains and volcanoes to form. When the plates run side by side, sometimes they stick and slip. The slipping is when earthquakes happen.

What type of plate boundary do the graham crackers in this model represent?

Convergent Boundaries
More Procedures: Convergent Boundaries- Continental Each piece of graham cracker represents a continental plate. Dip one end of each of the two graham crackers two centimeters into a cup of water. IMMEDIATELY remove the crackers and lay them end to end on the cool whip with the wet edges nearly touching.

What do the graham crackers represent in part B?

The graham cracker represents an oceanic plate, and the rice cake represents a continental plate.

What happened to the frosting between the graham crackers?

Because the chewing gum is dense, it will sink as the plates sink into the asthenosphere and thus push up the frosting where the chewing pieces separate.

How is the behavior of food coloring in the cool and heated water different?

What caused the differences in their behavior? The food coloring in cool water remained at the bottom of the container. The behavior of the food coloring was caused by the movement of heat through the water and the formation of convection currents. The warmer water is less dense, so it rises to the surface.

Why is it called horizontal sliding?

Why is this movement often described as “horizontal” sliding? Two plates are moving side by side, each moving in opposite directions.

What features does the curling and folding at the ends of the wet crackers represent?

What feature do the resulting ends of the wet crackers represent? They represent the rocks buckling and moving up and not just crumbling apart.

What happens when you put a drop of food coloring in water?

Thermal Energy is the total energy of the particles in an object. When placed into water, food coloring will begin to mix with the water. The food coloring will mix the fastest in the hot water because the molecules are moving fast due to their increased thermal energy.

What can you do with graham cracker plate tectonics?

Graham Cracker Plate Tectonics This quick and tasty kids’ science activity gives little scientists a hands-on way to explore plate tectonics – the movement of the Earth’s crust that leads to the formation of volcanoes, mountains, and oceanic trenches. It’s the perfect combination to our action packed Landform Activity Pack!

What should I tell my students about graham crackers?

Teacher Tip: DON’T LET STUDENTS DIP THE CRACKERS IN TOO FAR OR FOR TOO LONG. Trust me, it gets messy. The last phase of this is the transform boundary. My students always have the most difficulty with this, as they are not coordinated enough to push and slide at the same time.

Where do the two graham cracker plates meet?

Where the two graham cracker plates meet is called a plate boundary and they are named by the way the plates move against each other. I also made a dish for myself so I could model what each boundary should look like for my kids. The first boundary we recreated was a transform boundary.

Why are there two graham crackers on the mantle?

On top of the mantle we placed two graham crackers to represent the cooler, rigid crust. Where the two graham cracker plates meet is called a plate boundary and they are named by the way the plates move against each other.