Tectonic

Plates
Jigsaw Puzzle

Eurasian Plate
Instructions
Print both pages on A4 or A3 sized paper,
in colour and single-sided.
Then cut each plate out along the solid white line
and rearrange the pieces to complete the puzzle.

Puzzle hint
Remember the Earth is a sphere so the puzzle is
‘continuous’ — pieces on the right can be picked
up and placed on the left side or vice versa.
Pla can
Af

For more information

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On activities using the Tectonic Plates Jigsaw

Puzzle please visit ga.gov.au/education
Pla bian
A r a
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Juan late

c Plat
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Fuca

Pacifi

Do you know?
• T
 he name of the tectonic plate
Australia is part of?
e pin
Philip te
Pla

• What direction Australia is moving?

• H
 ow many centimetres Australia
moves each year?
Find the answers by visiting:
ga.gov.au/educationactivities

Scotia
Plate
North American Plate

Antarctic Plate
Plate
South A
merica
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Plate
Caribbe
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Pl zca
Na
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Pl cos
Co
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www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/00mgg05.html
Base map source: Surface of the Earth Poster,

National Geophysical Data Center, USA.

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Revised March 2000.

Ind

© Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2020.

This product is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode GA PP-3361 | eCat 140017
 Upper primary – senior secondary

Tectonic Plates
Jigsaw Puzzle

Plate tectonics is a scientific theory describing the large-scale motion of ‘plates’. There are several
large plates and a large number of smaller plates of Earth's lithosphere (crust and uppermost mantle)
that move over a semi-molten plastic layer of the mantle called the asthenosphere. The movement of
plates and the location of plate boundaries largely explains the formation and distribution of
earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges and other geological phenomena.

The tectonic plates jigsaw puzzle activity (http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/140017) allows

students to develop their understanding of tectonic plates using a kinaesthetic activity. This document
provides suggestions for analysis and activities that are most suitable for upper primary to secondary
students. The activity supports teaching parts of the science curriculum and may be linked with other
subjects including geography studies (natural hazards and impacts on society) and mathematics
(coordinates and mapping).

The location, size and shape of the major tectonic plates and their types of boundaries.

|TEACHER GUIDE| 1
Making the puzzle
The background world map shows land elevation and ocean depth and is overlain with the outlines of
the major tectonic plates and labels. The puzzle activity sheet also includes a number of ‘Do you
know’ questions to engage students.

Option 1: Students may work individually or in groups to cut out and complete the puzzle.
Option 2: The teacher may prepare a set (or a few sets) for the class to use during their lesson.

Equipment
• Tectonic plates jigsaw puzzle print-out (option - laminate the print-out)
• Scissors

Method
1. Print the two jigsaw puzzle pages, at either A4 or A3 size, in colour and single-sided. A3 size is
recommended so the puzzle is easier to cut out and it will still fit on a student desk.
2. Laminate the pages (if you wish) and then cut out each tectonic plate. Cut along the solid white
lines but not along the red dashed lines – they indicate the position of the edges of smaller plates.
3. Complete the puzzle. Remember the Earth is a spherical shape so the puzzle is ‘continuous’ –
pieces on the right can be picked up and placed on the left side or vice versa.

How to cut out puzzle pieces and puzzle after completion.

NOTE: You may find it easier not to use the Antarctic plate. When converting a 3-dimensional object
to a 2-dimensional map the polar-regions become stretched. Consequently, Antarctica and the
northern polar-regions look proportionally much bigger than reality. Also, if the Antarctic piece is used
in the puzzle it limits the manoeuvrability of the other plates.

Suggested student activities

• Teaching about maps. Before using the
puzzle consider using mandarin skins to
represent a map sheet. Draw ‘continents’
on a whole mandarin then challenge
students to peel the mandarin and lay out
the peel/surface as a flat map. They will
gain a greater appreciation of the
distortions that are in all flat maps.

|TEACHER GUIDE| 2
• Display a world map of earthquakes such as http://ds.iris.edu/seismon/index.phtml on an
interactive white board. Trace over the main earthquake zones; you will have drawn a rough
outline of the major tectonic plates that can be compared with a map of the tectonic plates.
Alternatively students can do this activity individually using world maps showing earthquake
distribution. Consider whether the distribution of geological hazards around the world appears
random or not.
• Investigate where major geological hazards occur (e.g. earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunami). Try
using the NOAA Natural Hazards Viewer https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hazards/

• Look at a world map of tectonic plates and geohazard distribution such as This Dynamic Planet at
https://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/2800/

1) a) Name five countries that are in mid-plate locations.

b) Name five countries that are on the edge of tectonic plates.

2) Are divergent plate boundaries (plates which are moving away from each other) usually found
in the centre of oceans or at the edge of continents?

3) Name three places where plates are converging (plates coming together).

4) a) Compare Australia’s position (mid-plate) with that of some of our closest neighbours e.g.
New Zealand, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Are these places mid-plate or on plate
edges?

b) When planning for geohazard events how might preparations in Australia differ from
preparations in Indonesia or New Zealand?

5) Create a table of the top five fastest moving large tectonic plates. Include columns for the
plate name, speed (mm/year) and direction. If there is more than one speed shown across the
plate then choose an average number for that plate.

6) Find the San Andreas Fault in California. Draw a sketch to show the two plates involved in this
transform plate margin and their directions of movement.

7) Consider the position of major elevation features in relation to plate boundaries (e.g. fold
mountain ranges, deep ocean tranches, mid-ocean ridges). Investigate how these features are
formed and their association with different types of plate margin.

‘Do you know?’ questions and answers

Find the answers to the ‘Do you know?’ questions on the cut-out page by watching the Geoscience
Australia video Introduction to tectonic plates at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKBY4aCsnnM&feature=emb_logo
• The name of the tectonic plate Australia is part of? Indo-Australian Plate
• In what direction Australia is moving? North (with a little bit of east)
• How many centimetres does Australia move each year? 6-7cm each year (the fastest moving
continent in the world)

Further information
• This Dynamic Planet map of volcanoes, earthquakes, impact craters, and plate tectonics
http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/2800/
This Dynamic Earth: the story of plate tectonics http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/

|TEACHER GUIDE| 3
 These Unites States Geological Survey resources are comprehensive and useful then teaching
about earthquakes, volcanoes and plate tectonics.

• NOAA Natural Hazards Viewer https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hazards/

World map on which you can turn on and off various layers including plate boundaries,
earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes and DART deployments.
• Eruptions, Earthquakes and Emissions https://volcano.si.edu/E3/index.cfm
Time lapse animation of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes since 1960.
• IRIS Seismic Monitor http://ds.iris.edu/seismon/
A seismic activity map which provides location and size information for recent earthquakes from
around the world. Other seismology education resources are on the site.

• Earthquakes@GA http://www.ga.gov.au/earthquakes/
Map showing latest and significant earthquakes in the Australian region. Also links to the
Australian earthquakes database.

• Earthquakes 2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPEpSX08K_Q

Excellent YouTube animation of world earthquakes 2011 – well worth using with sound turned on.

• Plate Tectonics – The Geological Society http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics

Great interactive for students to investigate plate boundaries and their relationship to volcanoes
and earthquakes.

Australian curriculum links

Year 6
Science > Science Understanding > Earth and Space Science > ACSSU096
Science > Science as a Human Endeavour > Use and influence of science > ACSHE100
Science > Science Inquiry Skills > Processing and analysing data and information > ACSIS107

Year 9
Science > Science Understanding > Earth and Space Science > ACSSU180
Science > Science as a Human Endeavour > Nature and development of science > ACSHE157,
ACSHE158

Senior secondary
Science > Earth and Environmental Science > Unit 4 The changing Earth > Science Understanding >
ACSES098, ACSES099
Science > Earth and Environmental Science > Unit 4 The changing Earth > Science Inquiry Skills >
ACSS089
Plate tectonics map

Indo-
World Map of Countries
Transform boundaries
• The San Andreas Fault in California (west coast of USA) is an active transform boundary. The
Pacific Plate (carrying the city of Los Angeles) is moving northwards with respect to the North
American Plate.
• The Queen Charlotte Fault on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America
• The Motagua Fault, between the southern edge of the North American Plate and the northern edge
of the Caribbean Plate.
• New Zealand's Alpine Fault
• The Dead Sea Transform fault which runs through the Jordan River Valley in the Middle East.
• The Owen Fracture Zone along the south-eastern boundary of the Arabian Plate.

Divergent boundaries
• The East African Rift (Great Rift Valley) in eastern Africa
• The Mid-Atlantic Ridge system separates the North American Plate and South American Plate in
the west from the Eurasian Plate and African Plate in the east
• The Gakkel Ridge is a slow spreading ridge located in the Arctic Ocean
• The East Pacific Rise, extending from the South Pacific to the Gulf of California
• The Baikal Rift Zone in eastern Russia
• The Red Sea Rift
• The Aden Ridge along the southern shore of the Arabian Peninsula
• The Carlsberg Ridge in the eastern Indian Ocean
• The Gorda Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
• The Explorer Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
• The Juan de Fuca Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
• The Chile Rise off the southeast Pacific

Convergent boundaries (subduction zones)

• The oceanic Nazca Plate subducts beneath the continental South American Plate at the Peru–
Chile Trench.
• The oceanic Cocos Plate subducts under the Caribbean Plate and forms the Middle America
Trench.
• The Cascadia subduction zone is where the oceanic Juan de Fuca, Gorda and Explorer Plates
subduct under the continental North American plate.
• The oceanic Pacific Plate subducts under the North American Plate (composed of both continental
and oceanic sections) forming the Aleutian Trench.
• The oceanic Pacific plate subducts beneath the continental Okhotsk Plate at the Japan Trench.
• The oceanic Philippine Sea Plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate at the Ryukyu Trench.
• The oceanic Pacific Plate subducts under the oceanic Philippine Sea Plate forming the Mariana
Trench.
• The oceanic Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt forming
the Philippine Trench and the East Luzon Trench.
• The Eurasian Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Manila Trench.
• The Sunda Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Negros Trench and
the Cotobato Trench.
• The oceanic Indo-Australian Plate is subducted beneath the continental Sunda Plate along
the Sunda Trench.
• The oceanic Pacific Plate is subducting under the Indo-Australian Plate north and east of New
Zealand, but the direction of subduction reverses south of the Alpine Fault where the Indo-
Australian Plate starts subducting under the Pacific Plate.
• The South American Plate is subducting under the South Sandwich Plate, forming the South
Sandwich Trench.
After you build the Tectonic Plates Jigsaw puzzle, answer the following questions to check your
understanding.

1. Why are the edges of the puzzle shaped weirdly?

2. Name 5 countries that are on the edge of tectonic plates and more likely to have seismic
activity.

3. Are divergent plate boundaries (that are moving away from each other) usually found in the
centre of oceans, or at the edges of continents?

4. Name three 5 countries that are in mid-plate locations and less likely to have seismic
activity.

5. Name three places where plates are converging.

6. Look at the list of subduction zones. What is formed at most of them?

7. Compare Australia with New Zealand and Indonesia. Which country or countries are more
likely to have seismic activity, and why?

8. What is the name of the tectonic plate that Australia is part of?

GOOGLE:

9. Continents are still drifting today. In what direction is Australia moving?

10. Find out how many centimetres Australia moves each year.
After you build the Tectonic Plates Jigsaw puzzle, answer the following questions to check your
understanding.

1. Why are the edges of the puzzle shaped weirdly?

2. Name 5 countries that are on the edge of tectonic plates and more likely to have seismic
activity.

3. Are divergent plate boundaries (that are moving away from each other) usually found in the
centre of oceans, or at the edges of continents?

4. Name three 5 countries that are in mid-plate locations and less likely to have seismic
activity.

5. Name three places where plates are converging.

6. Look at the list of subduction zones. What is formed at most of them?

7. Compare Australia with New Zealand and Indonesia. Which country or countries are more
likely to have seismic activity, and why?

8. What is the name of the tectonic plate that Australia is part of?

GOOGLE:

9. Continents are still drifting today. In what direction is Australia moving?

10. Find out how many centimetres Australia moves each year.