THOMAS JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY

GRADE 8 SCIENCE
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH


GENERAL
CORE, CRUST, and MANTLE
PLATE TECTONICS

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PLATE TECTONICS
This Dynamic Earth:  The Story of Plate Tectonics from the United States Geological Service, this is an online version of a booklet published in 1996.  It covers a historical perspective, understanding plate motions, hot spots and plate tectonics and people.
A Science Odyssey: You Try It: Plate Tectonics an explanation of plate tectonic theory with links to explanations of divergent, collisional, convergent and transform boundaries.  This is part of an extensive PBS science site.
Earthquakes Overview The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California offers brief explanantions of plate tectonics and seismic waves as part of their online exhibit on earthquakes.
Earth's Interior This student developed ThinkQuest site explains the three types of plate movement.
Internet Geography Plate Tectonics A British site which provides easy to understand information on structure of the earth, continental drift, plate tectonics and a detailed map and chart of plate boundaries.
Earth Science Explorer from the NASA Classroom of the Future.  The site is set up as a museum.  The Earth Floor provides an explanation of plate tectonics.
The ABC's of Plate Tectonics Donald Blanchard presents a lesson on plate tectonics which includes subduction zones, colliding continents, plumes and earthquakes.
Plate Tectonics from NASA's Observatorium Planet Earth website, comes an explanation of plate tectonics which includes the three types of faults and pangaea.  There is also a quiz and word search at the end of the site.
Plate Tectonics, the Cause of Earthquakes A May 2001 article by John J. Louie, a professor at the MacKay School of Mines at the University of Nevada, which defines plate tectonics and the three main plate tectonic environments: extensional, transform, and compressional.
Plate Tectonics:  The Book Find a detailed account of Plate Tectonics in this online book from Platetectonics.com.

 
 
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH THOMAS JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CORE, CRUST and MANTLE
Earth's Crust teaches you about the earth's crust, earthquakes, volcanoes and plate tectonics.
Crust and Lithosphere an explanation of the difference between the crust and the lithosphere from the United Kingdom's Geological Society.
Core Spins Faster Than Earth, Lamont Scientists Find seismologists Xiaodong Son and Paul G. Richards at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have found that the Earth's inner core is rotating faster than the planet itself
Earthforce in the core

Earthforce in the crust

 A detailed explanations of the core and crust of the earth followed by links to sites for additional information.  This is part of the Franklin Institute Science Museum's online exhibit Earthforce.
The Earth's Crust A clear explanation of the Continental and Oceanic crusts of the earth from the British Antarctic Survey.
Structure of Earth eTap (electronic Teaching Assistance Program) has a diagram of the physical and chemical properties of the earth's layers and very clear explanations of the core, crust, and mantle.
Forces in Earth's Inner Space in an article in News UC Davis, geophysicist, Louise Kellogg, explains the Earth's mantle.
The Composition of the Earth's Core  A reply to the question "How do scientists know what is in the core of the earth?" from Dr. Ken Rubin, Assistant Professor,Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii, from the Ask-An-Earth- Scientist web site.
BBC News Article from the Sci/Tech section of the BBC news explaining how geophysicists have proved the earth's core is solid iron.
Mantle Dynamics An easy to follow explanation of the earth's mantle from the British Antarctic Survey.
Chemicals At Earth's Core Surprisingly Complicated An article, from the Daily University Science News,  explaining the new discoveries about the chemical compostion of the earth's core.
The Mantle Moves Us Kathy A. Svitil's article, on the Platetectonics.com site, suggests that the continents move with earth's mantle not against it.

 
 
 
 
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH THOMAS JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY

 
 
 
 
 
GENERAL
Earth's Interior & Plate Tectonics detailed site which covers the core, crust and mantle in the chapter The Earth's Interior.  Plate Tectonics are covered in the chapter The Lithosphere & Plate Tectonics.
The Earth Enchanted Learning Software's site takes you inside the earth with explanations about the surface and crust, mantle and core.  Diagrams are included.
Earth's Layers a clear explanation of the layers of the earth with diagrams from A Teacher's Guide to the Geology of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Dynamic Earth The School of Earth Sciences at the University of Leeds in England provides easy to understand explanations on plate tectonics, inner earth structure, and mantle convection.
Earth an explanation of the planet earth which includes the depth and chemical composition of each layer of the earth and provides a link for additional information on the Mohorovic discontinuity between the crust and upper mantle.
The Earth at Work from the PBS special, The Savage Earth, comes detailed information on the earth's crust, mantle and core.
Earth as a Giant Pinball Machine Information on core, crust, and mantle along with plate tectonics from an Earthquakes exhibit from The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California.
Earth Structure:  Model for Structure of Earth Davison E. Soper, of the Institute of Theoretical Science, University of Oregon, offers very clear diagrams and notes of the mantle and the crust.  These are from his Astronomy 121 course.
Earth's Interior A basic information sheet on the core, crust and mantle from the New York State High School Regents Exam Prep Center.
Exploring The Earth  Volcanoes This website from Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA Classroom of the Future provides information about the structure of the earth.  Use the sections Plate Tectonics & Heat Flow and Looking Inside The Earth.
Inside the Earth A basic explanation of the layers of the Earth along with a cutaway diagram showing the internal structure of the Earth.
The Interior of the Earth Eugene Robertson's article, from the United States Geological Survey, explains the crust, mantle and core of the earth.  Diagrams of the crust and core are included along with a chart giving the dimensions of each of the  earth's structures.
LiveScience.com - Breakthrough: New Way to Peek Inside Earrth Robert Roy Britt offers detailed information on the earth's core.  Scroll down to the bottom of the article for an excellent diagram of the distinct regions of the earth.  There are also links to additional information on the core snd the mantle,
Plate Tectonics & Deep Earth geology sites selected by About.com subject expert on geology provide information on the core, mantle and plate tectonics. 
The Earth's Interior Professor John J. Louie's article explains the formation of the earth, its chemical composition, the core, mantle and crust.  The article contains diagrams and charts. 
What on Earth is Plate Tectonics? The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service provide information on the core, crust, and mantle along with information on plate tectonics.
Seismic Waves An article by Professor John J. Louie on P and S waves.
Structure of the Earth An education module from the Souther California Integrated GPS Networks presents information on the core, crust, mantle, and plate tectonics. 
Windows to the Universe An amazing site from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.  You can find out about the core, crust, and mantle of the earth along with plate tectonics at three different levels, beginner, intermediate, and advance.
Components of the Earth System A section from an online textbook, The Good Earth, which gives brief explanations of the crust, mantle and core along with diagrams.
The Layers Of The Earth Brief explanations of the dimensions and content of the core, mantle, and crust.
The Geological Earth An article on the earth's crust, mantle and core from The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia provided by Fact Monster, a site which is a kids' version of the Information Please almanac.
Platetectonics.com The research section of this extensive web site offers magazine articles on the core, mantle, and plate tectonics.

 
 
 
 
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH THOMAS JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
These sites have been selected for their relevance to the eighth grade science curriculum.  These choices are consistent with the selection policies of the library, and with the print and non-print materials available there.  Each site has been seen by the librarian and has been screened by the school's Internet filtering software.  However, the library, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and the Board of Education are not responsible for the content of these sites, which is subject to frequent change, nor for the content of any other sites to which these sites may be linked.