🧩 TECTONIC PLATES
PAGE 1 OF 5, EARTH'S GIANT PUZZLE
SHELL
NOT ONE SOLID SHELL
Earth's outer shell is broken into giant pieces called tectonic plates. Think of a hard puzzle covering the whole planet, with continents and ocean floors riding on those pieces. The plates fit together, but the edges are not glued shut. They can grind, pull apart, or bump. Learning this idea helps explain mountains, volcanoes, and shaky ground. The shell looks calm from space, yet it is quietly in pieces.
⚡ DID YOU KNOW?
Tectonic means about building and shaping Earth's crust. Plates are the giant building blocks of that shell.
PUZZLE!
PIECES
🧩 Some plates are huge and carry whole continents across the globe.
🌊 Other plates sit mostly under the ocean and still move just the same.
🌊 Other plates sit mostly under the ocean and still move just the same.
EDGES
📏 Plate edges are where most of the grinding and bumping happens.
🔍 Scientists map those edges to understand how Earth keeps changing.
🔍 Scientists map those edges to understand how Earth keeps changing.