LAB 2 ANSWER KEY ACTIVITY 2.1: Plate Motion Inquiry Using GPS Time-Series

2.1A. Answers will vary. For example, although most students in the United States live on the North American Plate, some live on the Pacific Plate.

2.1B. Answers will vary and must be checked on an individual basis.

2.1C. Students will have some difficulty generalizing about the general motion of North America and South America, but most will agree on the general motion of Africa and Europe.

2.1D. Reflect and Discuss: Most discussions of plate tectonics describe how the Atlantic Ocean is developed around a divergent plate boundary (Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge), so North America and South America are moving away from Europe and Africa. The generalized plate motion vectors above (black arrows) seem to confirm that. Therefore, students generally use the above map to say that it supports the Plate Tectonic Theory.

ACTIVITY 2.2: Is Plate Tectonics Caused by a Change in Earth’s Size?

2.2A.