Plate Tectonics & Resources

Judi KusnickGeology Dept.

kusnickje@csus.eduhttp://www.csus.edu/indiv/k/kusnickj/

index.html

• We hadn’t done a SIRC workshop on plate tectonics in a while.

• We’ve never done a SIRC workshop on resources (I think)

• So I said, SURE, I can do that.

How this happenedHow this happened

• You are the guinea pigs.• I just made this up this week.• It’s what I would do with MY

students.

So regard this as fair warning…So regard this as fair warning…

• Some understanding for you of how resources (petroleum and minerals) are related to plate boundaries.

• A chance to try out a jigsaw strategy.• You also get to help me figure out

how to make something like this work with high school kids.

This is what I promise you get from this presentation…This is what I promise you get from this presentation…

• On your whiteboard…• Divide it into quarters• In each quarter you will illustrate one

of these plate boundaries in words and pictures:

• Diverging, transform, converging-subduction, converging-suture (continent-continent)

First let’s all remember what we already know about plate First let’s all remember what we already know about plate tectonicstectonics

• You are a member of a resource exploration team for a new geoscience company.

• Name it.• Now you need to develop experts in

minerals and in petroleum. So decide who will be the mineral people, and who will be the petroleum people.

• Rearrange yourself. Find a table with the appropriate sign and join an expert group

Now on to the new activityNow on to the new activity

• Read the handout called Reading Assignment

• Use the collaborative reading protocol to read your handouts.

• Find the answers to the questions in the reading.

• You will be going back to help your teammates understand this material, so be sure you understand it.

In your expert group…In your expert group…

• I am bringing you your challenge.• Your job is to choose a region of the

world (out of a set of three) that you think is the most likely place to find petroleum and minerals.

• NOT based on your prior knowledge.• Use the chart to organize your thinking.• Use your whiteboard to prepare a

presentation for your investors.

Now back to your teamNow back to your team