Our Dyanmic Earth

• Plate tectonics
• Seafloor spreading:   http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/eoc/teachers/t_tectonics/p_seafloorspreading.html
• Volcanos
• Ring of Fire
• New Madrid Fault  http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/awareness/nmsz.html

Use the Internet to research the geographic region known as the Ring of Fire. They should look at the following Web sites and others they can find by searching:

National Geographic: Forces of Nature—Ring of Fire 
The Ring of Fire 
PBS: Savage Earth 
USGS: Active Volcanoes and Plate Tectonics, "Hot Spots" and the "Ring of Fire" 
USGS: Ring of Fire

As they go through the sites, answer these questions:

• Where is the Ring of Fire?
• Why is it called the Ring of Fire?
• What does the Ring of Fire have to do with plate tectonics?
• What events on the Earth's surface tend to occur in this region more frequently than in other regions of the Earth? Why do they occur here?
• What do trenches and mountain ranges have to do with the Ring of Fire and plate tectonics?