Plate tectonics - R2P

This resource provides a lesson plan describing how to use slow motion animation (slowmation) to teach plate tectonics. It gives ideas on how to deliver the task along with the key questions to ask to ensure understanding and suggested software to use for the animation.

The research summary discusses how pupils find it difficult to understand the concept of plate tectonics and are not interested in learning about the topic. It also suggests that the use of pupil collaboratively constructed animations helps them engage more in their learning and develop a deeper understanding of the science as the animation needs to be: planned, chunked, sequenced, constructed and re-constructed.

By the end of the lesson pupils should be able to:

• describe the nature and movement of tectonic plates
• explain the formation of land at tectonic plate boundaries 
• differentiate between tectonic plate boundaries

This resource is part of a collection of research informed secondary science lesson plans produced as part of the Research-2-Practice (R2P) project undertaken by research teams at the University of Roehampton, University of Lincoln, York St John University and KYRA research school, between 2020 and 2021, which was funded by Wellcome.

The overall aim of the project was to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in science by giving time-pressed teachers quick and easy access to relevant research to inform their practice and provide exemplar lesson plans to show how the research could be used in the classroom. More resources can be found here.