Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics Screenshot
  • Plate Tectonics
  • Crust
  • Lithosphere
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Topics

  • Plate Tectonics
  • Crust
  • Lithosphere
  • Mantle
  • Density
  • Buoyancy
  • Earth Science

Description

Explore how plates move on the surface of the earth. Change temperature, composition, and thickness of plates. Discover how to create new mountains, volcanoes, or oceans!

Sample Learning Goals

  • Describe the differences between oceanic and continental crust, including their respective properties of density, composition, temperature and thickness.
  • Predict how changes in composition and temperature change crust density and buoyancy.
  • Draw a time series for different types of plate boundaries and their motions, indicating the related surface features.
  • Deduce the type of plate boundary given images or descriptions of surface features.
  • Explain which types of plate boundaries create crust, and which destroy crust
Version 1.02

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Plate Tectonics Inquiry A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Courtney Fadley, Noah Podolefsky MS Lab Earth Science
PhET Plate Tectonics A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. David Moutoux HS Lab Earth Science
Plate Tectonics A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Karen Mogren HS Lab Earth Science
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other Chemistry
Physics
Biology
Earth Science
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein updated by Diana López HS
MS
Other Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Earth Science
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer MS
HS
Other Chemistry
Physics
Biology
Plate Tectonics PhET Lindsay Waack, Shelby Halliday MS
HS
Lab
HW
Discuss
Guided
Earth Science
Plate Tectonic SIM Lab Marc Alderman MS Lab
Guided
Earth Science
Plate Tectonics Lab! Jamie Schoenberger MS Lab
Guided
Earth Science
Plate Tectonic Simulation Kevin Birkholz MS Lab
Guided
Earth Science
Plate Tectonics Lab Cesar Duran MS Lab Earth Science
Kinematics Wang Yunhe HS Lab Physics
Plate Motions Lab Sheet Brian Puls K-5
MS
Lab Earth Science
NGSS Simulation Alignment/Correlation Matthew Huffine K-5
HS
MS
UG-Intro
Demo
Other
Other
struttura e vita di un pianeta roccioso Sossio Del Prete MS
HS
Lab
Discuss
MC
Guided
Astronomy
Earth Science
Montagne, vulcani e oceani Sossio Del Prete MS
K-5
Lab Earth Science
Ficha de trabalho - tectónica de placas Ana Antao MS HW
Lab
Guided
Earth Science

Language Download or Run Tips
Basque All Euskara Run now Plaka tektonikoa
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Tektonske ploče
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 板块构造论
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now 板塊構造論
Czech All čeština Run now Tektonika zemských desek
Danish All Dansk Run now Pladetektonik
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Platentektoniek
French All français Run now tectonique des plaques
German All Deutsch Run now Plattentektonik
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Τεκτονική πλάκα
Hebrew All עברית Run now תזוזת יבשות
Hungarian All magyar Run now Lemeztektonika
Icelandic All íslenska Run now Flekahreyfingar
Italian All italiano Run now Tettonica a placche
Japanese All 日本語 Run now プレートテクトニクス
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now Тектоникалык плитасы
Korean All 한국어 Run now 판구조론
Kurdish All کوردی Run now پلێته‌ ته‌كتۆنيه‌كان
Macedonian All македонски Run now Тектонски плочи
Maori All Maori Run now Nekehanga Papaneke
Marathi All मराठी Run now भूपट्ट विवर्तन
Mongolian All Монгол (Монгол) Run now Тектоник Хавтан
Persian All فارسی Run now زمین ساخت ورقه ای
Polish All polski Run now Tektonika płyt
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Placas tectônicas
Serbian All Српски Run now Тектонске плоче
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Tektonické platne
Spanish All español Run now Tectónica de placas Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Tectónica de placas Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Placas Tectónicas
Spanish (Spain) All español (España) Run now Placas Tectónicas
Swedish All svenska Run now Plattektonik
Thai All ไทย Run now การแปรสัณฐานแผ่นธรณีภาค
Turkish All Türkçe Run now Levha Tektoniği
Turkmen All Turkmen Run now Plitalaryň tektonikasy
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Mảng kiến tạo

This simulation is incompatible with Macs due to an incompatibility between the graphics hardware on those systems and the 3D graphics library (LWJGL) used in the simulation.
Windows Linux
Microsoft Windows
XP/Vista/7/8.1/10
Latest version of Java
Latest version of Java

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Heather Houlton (lead designer)
  • Noah Podolefsky (lead designer, interviewer)
  • Jonathan Olson (developer)
  • Kathy Perkins
  • Suzy Loper
  • Kevin Beals
  • Lauren Brodsky
  • Phaela Peck
  • Kat Quigley
  • Emily Moore (interviewer)
  • LWJGL
  • Andrea Bair
  • Trish Loeblein
  • Wireless Generation