Cycle 1

In the previous concept, students developed and used models of the geologic time scale. They considered the evidence that is used to construct Earth’s 4.6 billion year history, including relative dating using the relative dating of rocks and fossils, and major events in Earth’s history.
In this cycle, students will construct explanations to answer the guiding question: How does the Earth work as an overall system? Students will answer this guiding question by analyzing and interpreting data including, rock and fossil evidence, continental shapes, and the age of the seafloor, to provide evidence for past plate motions. They will use a model and obtain information from textual resources to explain how the Earth’s interior structure drives the movement of plate motion, which causes the patterns observed. Next, students will analyze and interpret data related to the Hawaiian hotspot to apply their understanding of how evidence at the Earth’s surface can be used to support the theory of plate tectonics.
In the next cycle, students will analyze and interpret data and develop models to explain the relationship between large-scale Earth processes, such as plate tectonics, and patterns in earthquakes and volcanoes across Earth’s surface.