Mississippi Science MAQ.3

MAQ.3 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• MAQ.3.1

  Use geospatial data to analyze, explain, and communicate differences among the major geological features of specific aquatic ecosystems (e.g., plate tectonics, ...

• MAQ.3.2

  Develop an understanding of plate tectonics to predict certain geological features (e.g., sea floor spreading, paleomagnetic measurements, and orogenesis).

• MAQ.3.3

  Classify zones of the ocean based on distance from shorelines (i.e., intertidal, neritic, oceanic, and benthic zones), temperature, and light availability (i.e....

• MAQ.3.4

  Classify zones of freshwater sources based on the velocity of current, depth, and temperature.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students read seafloor maps to explain ridges, trenches, seamounts, islands, and continental margins. They use plate movement and magnetic patterns to predict where new seafloor forms. They classify ocean and freshwater zones using location, depth, light, temperature, and current speed.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can use matching magnetic bands to locate a spreading ridge and predict where older seafloor lies. On a depth profile, they can distinguish a continental slope, rise, abyssal plain, and trench. They can classify ocean and freshwater samples using the measurements provided.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may think the oldest seafloor is at a spreading ridge, when the youngest rock is there. They may treat benthic as a shore-distance zone instead of the bottom, or assume light reaches every ocean depth. Some treat all freshwater as still water and overlook river currents.

04

How to Assess It

Give students a ridge-to-trench depth sketch with matching magnetic bands and points at 20 m and 2,000 m. Ask them to mark where new crust forms, circle the trench, and label the light zone at each point.

1. 01

   Slide two paper strips with matching magnetic bands away from a drawn ridge to model seafloor spreading.

2. 02

   Compare two NOAA seafloor depth profiles, one passive margin and one subduction margin, and explain why only one has a trench.

3. 03

   Sort ocean zone cards by shore distance, depth, and light, then sort river and lake cards by current speed, depth, and temperature.

4. 04

   Draw a watershed boundary on a local topographic map, then trace where rain carries sediment toward a river, estuary, or coast.

• E.4.9C

  Students will demonstrate an understanding of how natural processes and human activities affect the features of Earth's landforms and oceans.

• ESS.2A

  Students will develop an understanding of the structure and composition of Earth and its materials.

• E.3.7B

  Students will demonstrate an understanding of the composition of Earth and the processes which change Earth's landforms.