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Year 8

Plate boundaries

I can describe what happens at plate boundaries, including the tectonic hazards that occur.

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New
New
Year 8

Plate boundaries

I can describe what happens at plate boundaries, including the tectonic hazards that occur.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. There are four main types of plate boundary: conservative, constructive, collision and destructive.
  2. At a conservative plate boundary, the tectonic plates move past each other, causing earthquakes.
  3. At a constructive plate boundary, the tectonic plates move apart, causing volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
  4. At collision plate boundaries, plates move together, causing earthquakes.
  5. At destructive plate boundaries, plates move together, causing volcanoes and earthquakes.

Keywords

  • Tectonic plate - the huge pieces that Earth’s crust is broken into are known as tectonic plates

  • Plate boundary - where two tectonic plates meet is known as a plate boundary

  • Dense - a lot of mass packed into a small space

Common misconception

The oceanic plate subducts at a destructive plate margin and melts to form magma.

The water in the oceanic plate lowers the melting point, helping mantle rocks above to melt and form magma, not the subducting plate itself.


To help you plan your year 8 geography lesson on: Plate boundaries, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Focusing on the root words helps students to differentiate between the plate boundaries: conservative (land conserved), constructive (land constructed), collision (plates collide) and destructive (oceanic plate lost as it is subducted into mantle).
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Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is Earth's outermost layer called?
Mantle
Core
Correct answer: Crust
Q2.
What causes an earthquake?
Wind
Correct answer: Movement of tectonic plates
Rain
Solar activity
Q3.
What is a volcano?
A type of mountain
Correct answer: A crack in Earth’s crust that releases lava
A type of earthquake
A large ocean
Q4.
What is lava?
Solid rock
Water
Correct answer: Magma that reaches Earth’s surface
Air
Q5.
What is the point on Earth’s surface directly above the origin of an earthquake called?
Correct answer: Epicentre
Focus
Fault line
Q6.
Put the layers of Earth in the correct order, starting from the surface to the centre.
1 - crust
2 - mantle
3 - outer core
4 - inner core

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
What are tectonic plates?
Correct answer: Large, moving sections of Earth's lithosphere
Small rocks found in the ocean
Solid layers of Earth's core
Thin sheets of metal under the ground
Q2.
Which plate boundary forms new crust as plates move apart?
Destructive
Correct answer: Constructive
Conservative
Collision
Q3.
Does the oceanic plate fully melt into magma when it subducts?
Yes, it melts immediately into magma
No, it stays solid and never melts
Correct answer: It partly melts due to heat and pressure
It turns into gas
Q4.
Why does the oceanic plate sink at a destructive plate boundary?
Correct answer: It is denser than the continental plate
It is lighter than the continental plate
It is stronger than the continental plate
It moves faster than the continental plate