Activity

Tectonic sandwiches

In this activity, students make sandwiches to investigate tectonic plate boundaries and how they move during an earthquake.

There are also non-food related alternatives for exploring tectonic plates.

A sandwich decorated to investigate tectonic plate boundaries.

Tectonic sandwich

Students make sandwiches to investigate tectonic plate boundaries.

Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

  • begin to use content vocabulary terms like ‘tectonic plates

  • demonstrate different ways in which the tectonic plates move during an earthquake.

Download the Word file for:

  • introduction/background notes

  • what you need

  • what to do.

Related content

Use the Under the Earth’s surface and The moving Earth articles to further explore tectonic plates and the different ways they meet and move.

Activity ideas

Tectonic jigsaw puzzles helps students to visualise what is happening below their feet.

The Models of the Earth activity also uses edible science models to help students 'see' what is happening inside our Earth.

Published: 18 August 2014,Updated: 18 August 2014