Tectonic Fury: Minerals, Rock Cycle, WED, Tectonic Plates

Unlock Earth's mysteries by understanding its geologic processes

Geology - Tectonic Fury - Volano

Developed in partnership with the National Geographic Society, NOAA, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Department of Energy, this fascinating curriculum takes students on a journey to examine the depth of geologic forces at work on our planet with interactive games, educational videos, and engaging scientific concepts.

Throughout the Tectonic Fury curriculum, students work alongside leading researchers, geologists, and ecologists to investigate Earth’s icy peaks, liquid metal core, and strange and beautiful landforms.

Scientists explain key geological concepts such as rocks and minerals, the rock cycle, weathering and erosion, soil, Earth’s history, fossils, plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes in an engaging and exciting format.

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Mission 1: The Building Blocks – Earth’s Rocks and Minerals

Students join host researcher Dr. Mike Wise as he ventures into the depths of a mine and later to his laboratory to find out why he searches for rocks and minerals. In this mission, students engage in a series of hands-on interactive games, activities, videos, and articles to develop a fundamental understanding of Earth’s building blocks.

Target Audience:

Grades 4-12

Examples of Key Concepts and Vocabulary:

Mineral properties, rock cycle, metamorphism, gemstone, conductivity, igneous, clastic, foliated

Featured Games:

Tectonic Fury – Vocab Challenge – Mission 1, MasterMines, Minerals Use in Your Home

Mission 2: Earth’s Changing Face – Weathering, Erosion, and Soils

Students join host researcher Dr. Virginia Dale and her team on the slopes of Mount St. Helens and layer on their research farm in Tennessee to learn more about the ecological responses of soils. Games, activities, videos, and articles help students scour Earth’s surface for evidence of weathering and erosion.

Target Audience:

Grades 4-12

Examples of Key Concepts and Vocabulary:

Weathering, erosion, abrasion, freezing, thawing, mass movement, grain size, pore spaces

Featured Games:

Tectonic Fury – Vocab Challenge – Mission 2, Landform Detectives, Earth’s Varied Geology

Mission 3: Analyzing the Evidence – Dating, Fossils, and Geologic Time

Students find out how host researcher Dr. George Guthrie uses CAT scanners and electron microscopes to examine rocks and determine if they are good candidates for storing carbon within Earth. After watching this video, students explore a series of games, videos, articles, and activities to gain an understanding of carbon dating, fossils, and how geologists are able to piece together a map of geologic time like detectives.

Target Audience:

Grades 4-12

Examples of Key Concepts and Vocabulary:

Radioactive decay, half life, radiometric age, isotopes, relative dating, fossil record, Geologic Time Scale

Featured Games:

Tectonic Fury – Vocab Challenge – Mission 3

Mission 4: Earth on the Move – Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes

Students find out how host researcher Dr. Walter Smith uses altimeter measurements from satellites in orbit to study the bottom of the ocean. From there, students explore activities, games, articles, and videos to develop an understanding of plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, and how the dynamic nature of our planet is created.

Target Audience:

Grades 4-12

Examples of Key Concepts and Vocabulary:

Uniformitarianism, continental drift, lithosphere, plates, core, convergent boundary, magma, hot spots

Featured Games:

Tectonic Fury – Vocab Challenge – Mission 4, Landform Detectives

Included Materials

Specially prepared teacher support materials to support each of the four missions in Tectonic Fury:

  • Pre and Post Tests
  • Data Sheets
  • Lesson Plans
  • A Special Teacher’s Edition
  • Web links, and other tools

Plus, Digital Labs allow students to explore the work of Operation: Tectonic Fury through engaging videos and interactive online games such as “Landform Detectives,” which explores the formation and location of Earth’s geologic features.

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