Science Assessment

Students are expected to know that:

1. The earth’s plates move continuously and very slowly (several inches per year) along with the slightly softened layer of rock beneath them.
2. The motion of the plates results in the motion of all things that are part of the plates (e.g., continents, ocean basins, mountain ranges) and all things that sit on top of the plates (e.g., soil, ocean sediment, living things, and buildings).
3. Because the slow motion of plates is continuous, it can result in plates moving great distances across the surface of the earth over very long periods of time.
4. The direction of motion is different for different plates, and the direction of motion of a plate can change over time so that where a plate once pushed into another plate, it can later pull away from that plate.
5. Because different plates move in different directions, plates can press together, move away from each other, and move alongside (parallel to) each other.
6. It is possible to measure the rate of motion and direction of motion of a plate.

Boundaries:

1. Students are not expected to know the terms that describe the different ways plates interact with each other at plate boundaries (e.g., convergent, divergent, transform).
2. Students are not expected to know the forces that act on plates to cause them to move in one direction or another or that plates do not always move as a uniform block (i.e., that different parts of a single plate can move at different rates and in different directions).
3. Students are not expected to know how the rate of motion of plates is measured.