Mount St Helens – 1980

Haiti (earthquake) 2010

The Earth is one of nine planets in our solar system and formed 4.6 billion years ago. Over time the outside layer cooled to from solid rock (lithosphere) however the centre (core) remains very hot 5500⁰C.

The structure of the Earth

The Inner core:

The outer core:

The mantle:

The crust:

Tectonic plates

From the deepest ocean trench to the tallest mountain, plate tectonics explains the features and movement of Earth's surface in the present and the past.

Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell (crust) is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle. The plates act like a hard and rigid shell compared to Earth’s mantle. This strong outer layer is called the lithosphere.

Using www.garsidej.wordpress.com watch the following clips:

After you have watched each of the above videos take down the important information in the bubbles we drew in class.

What is continental drift?

Convections currents

Convection currents –how does it help explain continental drift?