LETRAN DE DAVAO, INC.

Seminary Drive, Tagum City

LEARNING GUIDE
SCIENCE 10
SY: 2020-2021

Prepared by: Leijean Mae S. Pelicano

Teacher’s Name

Approved by: _____________________

Academic Coordinator
(Week 1-3)
UNIT 1: PLATE TECTONICS

Photo credits: https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/when-and-how-did-plate-tectonics-begin-earth

UNIT 1: EARTH SCIENCE

CHAPTER CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

1 Topics:
Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Locate the epicenter of an earthquake using the triangulation method.
 Describe the distribution of active volcanoes, earthquake epicenters, and major
mountain belts.
 Determine the scientific basis for dividing the Lithospheric plates.
 Identify types of mountain and mountain ranges.
 Illustrate the different types of mountain and mountain ranges
 Explain the mechanism on the formation of a volcano.
 State the importance of volcano in the environment
 Evaluate the study of Alfred Wegener’s continental drift theory
 Be aware of the process of tsunami.
 Identify the causes of tsunami.
 To be able to explain the relationship of tectonic plates, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
 To examine the connection of the tectonic plates, earthquakes, and volcanoes.


INTRODUCTION of the LESSON

How do you view Earth? Different people have different answers to this question. Most of us might describe
Earth as a big and sturdy the planet that is composed of different layers. For volcanologist, Earth is landmass
that is produced by volcanic eruptions and other large-scale geologic processes such as earthquakes,
mountain buildings, and plate tectonics. For an astronaut like Charles Walker, gazing upon Earth is like looking
at a panorama of a brilliant deep blue ocean, shot with shades of green and gray and white.
The First Quarter will focus on Earth and Space. It is subdivided into two units to give emphasis on the
processes on Earth and the phenomena occurring in space. Unit I will focus on earth as a planet, the
movements of its plates and the geologic activities related to its formation and future fate. Unit II will focus on
Earth as a member of the solar system, its neighboring planets, and other heavenly bodies that our found in
our galaxy.

PRE -ASSESMENT QUIZ

Instruction: Read answer the following question.
1. Which among the following concepts best explains the theoretic balance of all large portions of Earth’s
lithosphere?

a. Continental c. rifting
b. Isostasy d. seafloor spreading
2. What is the name given by Wegener to his theory of horizontal crustal movements?
a. Continental c. rifting
b. Isostasy d. seafloor spreading

3. In which of the following plate boundary types does the San Andreas Fault belong?
a. Convergent c. transform
b. Divergent d. seismic

4. Who among the following coined the term seafloor spreading in 1961?
a. Alfred Wegener c. Clarence Dutton
b. Robert Dietz d. Harry Reid

5. Over what surface do lithospheric plates move?

a. Lower mantle c. inner core
b. Outer core d. asthenosphere

6. Which of the following is not part of physical geology?

a. Seismic waves c. orogenesis
b. Meteors d, volcanoes

7. This landform is a low-lying area of land between hills or mountains that is usually formed by the
actions of rivers and glaciers
a. Meander c. peninsula
b. Mesa d. valley

8. This type of plate boundary is also called the destructive plate boundary.
a. Convergent c. fault
b. Divergent d. transform

MOTIVATING ACTIVITY

Photo credit: https://tinyurl.com/y9bjxuhq

VOCABULARY

 Orogenesis-a process in which a section of the earth's crust is folded and deformed by lateral
compression to form a mountain range
  Isostasy- Isostasy is the state of gravitational equilibrium between Earth's crust and mantle such that
the crust "floats" at an elevation that depends on its thickness and density.
 Vent - an opening that allows air, gas, or liquid to pass out of or into a confined space.
 Pangaea- was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It
assembled from earlier continental units approximately 335 million years ago
 Hypocenter- is the point within the earth where an earthquake rupture starts.
 Forearc- is the region between an oceanic trench and the associated volcanic arc.
 Paleomagnetism - the branch of geophysics concerned with the magnetism in rocks that was induced
by the earth's magnetic field at the time of their formation.
 Liquefaction - is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake
shaking or other rapid loading
 Trench - is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide
 Hotspots- the places known as hotspots or hot spots are volcanic regions thought to be fed by
underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding mantle


WEEK 1

Day 1 Activity

 Subject Orientation

SESSION 1

DIRECTIONS:

a. Watch the video using this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_D6Hbqe2vw

b. Jot down important details in the video

QUESTIONS:

1. Where are most active volcanoes located?

2. What do you notice with the location of active volcanoes?
3. Where are most earthquake epicenter located?

SESSION 2

Find the Center

Objective:
 Locate the epicenter of an earthquake using the triangulation method.
Materials:
• hypothetical records of earthquake waves
• Philippine map
• drawing compass and ruler
Procedure:
1. Study the data showing the difference in the arrival time of P-wave and S-wave on three seismic recording
stations.

2. Compute the distance of the epicenter from each of the stations using this formula:
This formula is suited because 8 seconds is the interval between the times of arrival of the P-wave and S-
wave at a distance of 100 km.
3. Choose one of the recording stations and measure the computed distance on the map scale (the scale
of the map in Figure 3 is 1.5 cm: 200 km). Set your compass for that computed distance.

4. Center your compass on the station you have chosen. Draw a circle.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the rest of the stations. You should get three circles that intersect or nearly
intersect at a point. This intersection is the epicenter.

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/
Figure 3. Map of the Philippines

Q1. Where is the epicenter of this hypothetical earthquake?

Q2. What difficulty will you encounter if you only have data from two
recording stations?
In the previous activity, the hypothetical earthquake happened locally, that is why we use the formula
stated in the procedure. But, if the earthquake took place at a far greater distance, seismologists use
the distance-time graph similar to the figure below in determining the location of the epicenter.
 http://stream2.cma.gov.cn/pub/comet/Environment/TsunamiWarningSystems/comet/tsunami/
warningsystem/print.htm

Figure 4. Distance-time graph

The distance-time graph above shows that the S-P interval is about 10
minutes.
Q3. What is the distance of the epicenter from the seismic station?
Q4. What do you think is the importance of determining the epicenter of an earthquake?
Determining the location of earthquake epicenters plays a vital role in laying the foundations of plate tectonics.
Let us see how early geologists used the plotted positions of earthquake epicenters throughout the world in
conceptualizing crustal movements.

SESSION 2

WHAT IS A VOLCANO?
OBJECTIVES
 Explain the mechanism on the formation of a volcano.
 State the importance of volcano in the environment

DIRECTIONS
1. Watch the video about volcanoes using this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgktM2luLok
2. Answer the following questions in the GUIDE QUESTIONS

GUIDE QUESTIONS
a. Describe the mechanism on the formation of a volcano.
b. Enumerate the parts of volcano and its meaning.
c. What is the most essential contribution of volcanoes within the environment?
d. What are the disadvantages of volcanoes?

WEEK 2

SESSION 1
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN VOLCANOES, EARTHQUAKE EPICENTERS EARTHQUAKE
EPICENTERS
Objectives:
• Describe the distribution of active volcanoes, earthquake epicenters, and major
mountain belts.
• Determine the scientific basis for dividing the Lithospheric plates.
Materials:
• Figure 5: Map of earthquake distribution
• Figure 6: Map of active volcanoes of the world
• Figure 7: Mountain ranges of the world
• 2 pieces plastic sheet used for book cover, same size as a book page
`• marking pens (two different colors)

http://marc.fournier.free.free.fr
Figure 5. Map of earthquake distribution (Red, green, and blue dots represent earthquake
epicenters)

Procedure:
1. Study Figure 5 showing the earthquake distribution around the world.
Trace the approximate locations of several earthquake “clusters” using a marking pen on one of the
plastic sheets.

Q5. How are earthquakes distributed on the map?

Q6. Where are they located?
Q7. Where are there no earthquakes?
Q8. Why is it important for us to identify areas which are prone to earthquakes?

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/fig34.html
Figure 6. Map of active volcanoes (Red areas represent presence of volcanoes)
2. Study the map of active volcanoes in Figure 6.
Q9. How are volcanoes distributed?
Q10. Where are they located?
Q11. Based on the map, mention a country that is unlikely to experience a volcanic
eruption.
3. On the second plastic sheet, sketch the approximate locations of several volcanoes using a marking
pen.
4. Place the earthquake plastic sheet over the volcano plastic sheet.
Q12. Compare the location of majority of earthquake epicenters with the location of volcanoes
around the world.
 http://www.clipart.dk.co.uk/1068/az/Earth/Mountain_ranges
Figure 7. Mountain ranges of the world
5. Study Figure 7, the orange portions indicate mountain ranges of the
world.

Q13. How will you relate the distribution of mountain ranges with the distribution of earthquake
epicenters and volcanoes?

6. Now that you have seen the location of volcanoes, mountain ranges and majority of earthquake epicenters,
study Figure 2 on page 7, Map of Plate boundaries once more.
The places on Earth where most of the earthquakes originated or some mountains and volcanoes were
formed mark the boundaries of each lithospheric plate. As mentioned earlier, each plate is slowly
moving relative to each other, causing geologic events to happen along their boundaries.
Let’s take a look at the relative motion of the crustal plates in the figure below.

https://www.bucknell.edu/majors-and-minors/geology/location/geologic-history-of-centralpennsylvania/plate-tectonics.html
Figure 8. Map showing the relative motion of plates (Arrows indicate the direction of motion)

SESSION 2

ALFRED WEGENER’S CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

OBJECTIVES
 Evaluate the study of Alfred Wegener’s continental drift theory

DIRECTIONS
1. Read your book on pgs. 13-15
 2. Write a 100-word essay on each of the following questions. This is the rubric for the essay.

GUIDE QUESTIONS
a. Why did most scientist and Geologists dismiss Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory?
b. Assuming that continents were moving, what was it that Wegener could not adequately explain?

WEEK 3

Day 2 ACTIVITY

OBJECTIVES
 State the science of earthquake.
 Recognize the possible causes of earthquake.

DIRECTIONS
1. Research the guided questions given below.
2. Do not copy the answer on the internet, make your words personal.

GUIDED QUESTIONS
a. What is an earthquake?
b. What causes earthquakes and where do they happen?
c. Why does the earth shake when there is an earthquake?
d. How are earthquakes recorded?
e. How do scientists measure the size of earthquakes?
f. How can scientists tell where the earthquake happened?
g. Can scientists predict earthquakes?
h. Is there such a thing as earthquake weather? Can some animals or people tell when an
earthquake is about to hit?