Plate Tectonics Hot Spot Activity: Speed of Plate Movement

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This plate tectonics worksheet has SIMPLIFIED MATH compared to other versions. Learn more about hot spots and island formation, then use data to calculate how fast the Pacific plate moved as the Hawaiian Islands formed.

In this activity, students will:

• READ a brief introduction to hot spots.
• MEASURE the distance between the Hawaiian Islands in the diagram.
• CALCULATE the speed of plate movement. The worksheet leads students step-by-step through simple calculations.
• GRAPH the age of the islands (bar graph).
• ANSWER analysis questions.

NGSS Standards: Earth Science MS-ESS2-1 and MS-ESS2-2

NGSS Science & Engineering Practice: Analyzing and interpreting data

NGSS Science & Engineering Practice: Using mathematics and computational thinking

Teacher Notes:

• INCLUDES ANSWER KEY.
• Please note that plate tectonics hot spot activity not editable.
• Check out more resources in the plate tectonics section of our shop!