Plate Tectonics for Kids: Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Moving Continents (Grade 7 Science)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Today we are learning about plate tectonics. The ground under your feet feels still, but Earth's outer shell is slowly moving all the time.

Earth has layers, a bit like a peach. The thin outer layer is the crust. Below it is the thick, hot mantle. At the center are the outer core, made of liquid metal, and the solid inner core.

The crust and the top of the mantle are broken into giant pieces called tectonic plates, like a cracked eggshell. The plates move very slowly, just a few centimeters a year, about as fast as your fingernails grow.

Why do plates move? Deep in the mantle, hot rock slowly rises, cools and sinks again, in giant loops called convection currents. The plates ride on top, like rafts on very slow, thick soup.

Where plates meet, things happen. Plates can pull apart, letting magma rise to make new crust. They can push together, building mountains and volcanoes. Or they can slide past each other, causing earthquakes.

How do we know continents move? The coasts of South America and Africa fit like puzzle pieces, and the same fossils are found on both. Long ago, all the continents were joined in one supercontinent called Pangaea.

Now it's your turn. Two plates are pushing together, and the land is crumpling upward. What will form there over a very long time? Pause and try. Mountains! That is how the Himalayas were built.

Great job! Remember, Earth's crust is broken into plates that move slowly on the mantle. Where plates meet, we get new crust, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes. Practice plate tectonics in the Science Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!