Science 10

Science – Grade 10
Quarter 1 – Module 18: Seafloor Spreading and Plate Tectonics Theory
First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education Division of Pasig City

Development Team of the Self-Learning Module

Writer: Anniedel F. Sindac
Editor: Rosalina B. Piamonte
Reviewers: Olivia Ann C. Jaud / Michelle L. Bartolome / Rosalina B.
Piamonte
Illustrator:
Layout Artist: Mark Kihm G. Lara
Management Team: Ma. Evalou Concepcion A. Agustin
OIC-Schools Division Superintendent
Aurelio G. Alfonso EdD
OIC-Assistant Schools Division Superintendent
Victor M. Javeña EdD
Chief, School Governance and Operations Division and
OIC-Chief, Curriculum Implementation Division

Education Program Supervisors

Librada L. Agon EdD (EPP/TLE/TVL/TVE)

Liza A. Alvarez (Science/STEM/SSP)
Bernard R. Balitao (AP/HUMSS)
Joselito E. Calios (English/SPFL/GAS)
Norlyn D. Conde EdD (MAPEH/SPA/SPS/HOPE/A&D/Sports)
Wilma Q. Del Rosario (LRMS/ADM)
Ma. Teresita E. Herrera EdD (Filipino/GAS/Piling Larang)
Perlita M. Ignacio PhD (EsP)
Dulce O. Santos PhD (Kindergarten/MTB-MLE)
Teresita P. Tagulao EdD (Mathematics/ABM)

Printed in the Philippines by Department of Education – Schools Division of

Pasig City
 Science 10
Quarter 1
Self-Learning Module 18
Seafloor Spreading and Plate Tectonics
Theory
Introductory Message

For the facilitator:

Welcome to the Earth and Space 10 Module on Seafloor Spreading and Plate
Tectonic Theory !

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by educators from
Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its Officer-In-Charge Schools Division
Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A. Agustin in partnership with the Local
Government of Pasig through its mayor, Honorable Vico Sotto.
The writers utilized the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum using the Most
Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) while overcoming their personal, social,
and economic constraints in schooling.

This learning material hopes to engage the learners into guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims to help learners
acquire the needed 21st century skills especially the 5 Cs namely: Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking and Character while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the body of
the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that
will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this module.
You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to manage
their own learning. Moreover, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners
as they do the tasks included in the module.
For the learner:

Welcome to the Science for Grade 10 Module on Seafloor Spreading and Plate
Tectonic Theory !

The hand is one of the most symbolized part of the human body. It is often used to
depict skill, action and purpose. Through our hands we may learn, create and
accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a learner
is capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant competencies and
skills at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in your own hands!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful opportunities for
guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will be enabled to
process the contents of the learning material while being an active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectations - This points to the set of knowledge and skills

that you will learn after completing the module.

Pretest - This measures your prior knowledge about the lesson

at hand.

Recap - This part of the module provides a review of concepts

and skills that you already know about a previous lesson.

Lesson - This section discusses the topic in the module.

Activities - This is a set of activities that you need to perform.

Wrap-Up - This section summarizes the concepts and

application of the lesson.

Valuing - This part integrates a desirable moral value in the

lesson.

Posttest - This measures how much you have learned from the
entire module.
 EXPECTATION
From the earlier theories of Alfred Wegener, this module tells the idea that the
sea floor itself moves and also carries the continent with it. The scope of this module
is focused on the magnetic stripping of the ocean floor and the unifying continental
drift theory. It will enlighten you on some important matters about the Earth.
After the learning sessions, you are expected to:
1. analyze how seafloor spreading theory spreads outward from the underwater
ridges and how it contributes on the unifying continental drift theory;
2. discover how the reverse magnetic field of the Earth took place and explain plate
tectonic theory as a unifying theory; and
3. appreciate evidences of seafloor spreading with the ages of rocks and the unifying
continental drift theory.

PRETEST

Direction: Read and analyze the following questions and encircle the letter of the
best answer.
1. In seafloor spreading, molten material rises from the mantle and erupts ______.
A. at the North and South poles C. along the edges of all the continents
B. in deep ocean- trenches D. along mid-ocean ridges

2. Mid-ocean ridges are___________.

A. located mostly along coastlines C. found only in the Pacific Ocean
B. long deep ocean- trenches D. found in all of Earth’s Ocean

3. How did scientists discover that rocks farther away from the mid-ocean ridge were
older than those near it?
A. by determining the age of rock samples obtained by drilling on the sea floor.
B. by observing eruptions of molten material on the sea floor.
C. by measuring how fast seafloor spreading occurs.
D. by mapping rocks on the sea floor using sonar.

4. Old oceanic crust is denser than new oceanic crust because it is _________.
A. Cool C. moving toward a deep ocean trench
B. Hot D. spreading away from the ridge

5. It is a device or a pack used to provide a person with essential supplies during an

emergency.
A. Beauty kit C. Radio and other devices
B. Groceries D. Survival/ Emergency Kit
 RECAP
In your previous lesson, you have learned the Continental drift theory of Alfred
Wegener. Answer the following questions that follows.
True or False: Identify if the statement is right or wrong. If it is right write TRUE and
if it is wrong write FALSE.
___________1. Wegener thought all the continents were once joined together.
___________2. Harry Hess became the “father of continental drift” supporting evidence
that the continents move over time.
___________3. Wegener’s “continental drift theory “was accepted, it did not introduce
the idea of moving continents to geoscience.
___________4. Scientist would confirm that some of Wegener’s ideas, such as the past
existence of a supercontinent joining all the world’s landmasses as
one.
___________5. Pangaea was a supercontinent that formed roughly 200 to 250 million
years.
It is good to know that you still remember our previous lesson. Let’s move on.

LESSON

Where was the last time you go to the beach? What are the things you do on the
beach? Look at the pictures.

Figure 1- Boracay Beach Figure 2- Sand Beach Seashore

How would you describe the view? Isn’t it refreshing! It’s the sea. Let us
analyze how seafloor spreading happens.
Seafloor spreading, a theory of lithospheric evolution that holds the ocean
floors are spreading outward from vast underwater ridges. First proposed in the early
1960s by the American geologist Harry H. Hess, its major tenets gave great support
to the theory of continental drift and provided a conceptual base for the development
of plate tectonics.
 How did Harry Hess discover seafloor spreading?

Figure 3- Harry H. Hess

Harry Hammond Hess envisaged that oceans grew from their centers, with
molten material (basalt) oozing up from the Earth’s mantle along the mid- ocean
ridges. This created new seafloor which then spread away from the ridge in both
directions.
What is seafloor spreading?
It is a theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones,
known collectively as the mid-ocean ridge system, and spreads out laterally away
from them. According to this theory, the sea floors or ocean floors are the one’s
moving carrying the continents with it just like the divergent boundaries.
There are three types of evidence for sea-floor spreading. These are:
1. Evidence from ocean material: rocks shaped like pillows only form when
molten material hardens quickly after erupting under water.
2. Evidence from magnetic stripes: as the molten materials hardens, magnetic
minerals inside the rock line up in the direction of Earth’s magnetic poles.
This forms unseen magnetic “stripes”. The magnetic poles reverse themselves.
The stripes are mirror images on each side of a mid- ocean ridge.
3. Evidence from drilling samples: youngest rocks found near mid- ocean ridges
while oldest rocks found far away from mid- ocean ridges.

Figure 4- Illustration of seafloor spreading Figure 5- Magnetic reversal

Magnetic reversal is also called “magnetic flip” of the Earth. It happens when
the North is transformed into the South and the South pole becomes the North pole
due to a change in the direction of the flow in the outer core.
We need also to consider the Rock Dating Techniques
• Rock samples were taken at different locations near the mid-ocean ridge.
• Scientist found the youngest rock near the ridge.
• The oldest rock was found far away from the ridge.
• This provided evidence that sea floor spreading and that new crust was being
created at the ridge.
The age of the sea floor must be determine if the crustal plates are pulling
apart at boundaries like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (see the line of earthquake epicenters
down the center of the Atlantic in the preceding figure), the sea floor near these ridges
should be very young geologically, since it is formed of material upwelling from the
interior. This is indeed the case, as the following figure shows.

Figure 6 – Pacific sea floor crust age

This figure displays the estimated age of sea floor crustal plates with red the
youngest and blue the oldest. Now let us analyze how it contributes in the unifying
continental drift theory.
Here are the evidences of the plate tectonic theory:
1.Paleomagnetism – it states that rocks containing iron- rich minerals are
magnetized and it points toward the magnetic pole. The strips of alternating polarity
occur at ocean floor (seafloor spreading).
2. Earthquake patterns – it tells about the shallow focused earthquakes occur
within trench where descending plate interacts with lithosphere and the deep
focused earthquakes occur toward mainland when oceanic lithosphere plunges into
the mantle.
3. Ocean drilling- it is when sediments closer to the ridges will be younger while
sediments farther away will be older. The youngest oceanic crust is at the ridge crest.
4. Hotspots- is an area in the mantle from which heat rises as a thermal plume from
deep in the Earth. Plate moves creating successive volcanic mountains and chains.
 Figure 7- Evidences of plate tectonic theory
Based on the unifying continental drift theory, let us be happy while learning!
It’s activity time!

ACTIVITIES

Now we had known how sea floor spreading happens. Let us proceed to our activity.

Activity 18-A
Match me!
Learning Competencies:

1. Explain how magnetic stripping on the seafloor provides evidence for seafloor
spreading. S10ES –Ia-j-36.6.3
2. Explain Plate Tectonics Theory as unifying theory. S10ES-Ia-j-36.6.5
Match column A with the figure on column B.
 Column A Column B
________1. Paleomagnetism

________2. Magnetic reversal

A. B.

________3. Hotspots

________4. Harry H. Hess C. D.

________5. Seafloor Spreading

________6. Ocean drilling E. F.

________7. Divergent boundary

________8. Earthquake pattern G. H.

________9. Age of sea floor

_________10. Polarity shift

I. J.

Congratulations for answering the questions well. Keep up the good work!
Let us proceed to the next activity.

Activity 18-B
Split and Separate

Prepare for a simple representation of the seafloor spreading. What you need
are the following materials like folder or oslo paper, bond paper, colored pencils, pair
of scissors and ruler.
Here are the procedures for your simple presentation of seafloor spreading:
1. Using a colored pencil draw the stripes across one sheet of bond paper parallel
to the short sides of the paper. The stripes should vary in spacing and
thickness.
 Figure 8 – Paper illustration

2. Fold the bond paper in half lengthwise.

3. Write the word “Start” at the top of both halves of the paper. It should look
like the figure as shown.
4. Cut the bond paper in half along the dashed line to form two strips.
5. Take the folder or oslo paper and make three (3) 11 centimeter long slits as
indicated in the figure shown.
6. The two slits near the edges of the bond paper should be both 11-cm from the
center slip.
7. Put the two striped strips of paper together so that the “Start” labels touch
one another.
8. Insert the strips up through the center slit, then pull them low and the side
slits.
9. Insert the ends of the strips into the side slits. Pull the ends of the strips as
shown in the figure below and watch what happens at the center slit.
10. Practice pulling the strips through the slits until you can make the stripes
come up and go down at the same time.

https://www.gmsdk12.org/Downloads/sea%20floor%20spreading%20worksheet.pdf
Guide Questions:
1. What do the stripes in the paper represent?
2. What does the middle slit represent? What occurs in this region?
3. How does the new seafloor form at the mid-ocean ridge?
4. What process happen at the side slits?
5. Is the Earth getting larger and wider when plates drift away from each other?
Explain briefly.
 WRAP – UP

Let’s summarize what we have learned, answer the activity that follows. Using
the diagram fill in the four rectangular callouts to the left with ideas you’ve learned
from seafloor spreading and the other four rectangular callouts to the right on your
ideas learned from the plate tectonic theory.

Seafloor Plate
Spreading Tectonic
Theory

VALUING
Our country, Philippines is situated on the Pacific ring of fire that’s why it is
vulnerable to calamities like typhoon, earthquake, flashflood, volcanic eruption and
even viruses that kills thousands of lives. It is important that we are all prepared on
all the calamities that comes around us. Let’s us answer the activity that follows.
 Activity 18-C
Be safe!

Survival/ emergency kit is necessary in case of emergencies. It is a device or a pack

used to provide a person with essential supplies during an emergency.

What’s inside my emergency kit? Put a check √ if the following materials should be
put inside your emergency kit.

_________1. Rubbing alcohol ___________6. gloves

_________2. Cotton ___________7. masks
_________3. Povidone Iodine ___________8. Band aid
_________4. Plaster ___________9. Penlight/ flashlight
_________5. Thermometer ___________10. Elastic bandage

Here are some simple steps to follow to avoid infections and to avoid diseases.
Avoiding viruses around us will keep us healthy.

Congratulations for accomplishing the tasks. Keep on learning!

 POSTTEST

Direction: Read and analyze the following questions and encircle the letter of the
best answer.
1. Usually old rocks are found _____________.
A. Near the ridge. C. At the center of the ridge.
B. Far away from the ridge. D. At the side of the ridge.
2. It states that rocks containing iron- rich minerals are magnetized and it points
toward the magnetic pole.
A. Earthquake Pattern C. Ocean drilling
B. Hotspots D. Paleomagnetism
3. It tells about the shallow focused earthquakes occur within ___________ where
descending plate interacts with lithosphere and the deep focused earthquakes occur
toward __________ when oceanic lithosphere plunges into the mantle.
A. mantle, crust C. trench, mainland
B. hotpots, ridges D. plates, boundaries
4. How does the seafloor spreading becomes evidence from drilling samples
determine the age of rocks?
A. The rocks on the ocean floor moves away from the ridges becoming rocks
older.
B. Youngest rocks found near mid- ocean ridges while oldest rocks found far
away from mid- ocean ridges.
C. The younger rocks are hard to find while older rocks are seen on the sea
shore.
D. Rocks are determined by means of its color and shapes.
5. It is an important thing to do to avoid diseases.
A. Wash hands as needed. C. Limit the intake of water.
B. Touch your face. D. Forgot wearing masks.

KEY TO CORRECTION
1-10 All Check
5. D
Activity 18-C
4. A 5. A
10. B
3. A 4. B
9. G
2. D 3. C
8. E
1. D 2. D
7. J
Pre- test 1. B
6. D
5. H Post-test
5. True 4. C
3. A students understanding.
4. True
2. I Answer may vary on
3. False
1.F Wrap up
2. False
Activity 18-A What I have learned
1. True
True or False What's More
 where this process occurs are known as subduction zones.
forced to sink due to high gravitational potential energy into the mantle. Regions
boundaries of the tectonic plates where one plate moves under another and is
5. No because there was a subduction that takes place at the convergent
4. Subduction zone
sediment gradually builds on top of it.
moves away from the ridge, the lithosphere becomes cooler and denser, and
diverge at these ridges, magma rises into the upper mantle and crust. As it
3.Oceanic crust is continuously being created at mid-ocean ridges. As plates
2. mid-ocean ridges
1.Polarity shift of rocks
Activity 18-B
REFERENCES
Google images
Figure 1- Boracay Beach
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White_sand_beach,_Boracay_Island_-
_panoramio_(1).jpg
Figure 2- Sand Beach Seashore
https://pixabay.com/photos/sand-beach-seashore-water-travel-3159359/
Figure 3- Harry H. Hess
https://sites.google.com/site/thetheoryofplatetectonics/harry-hess-and-seafloor-spreading
Figure 4 - Illustration of seafloor spreading
https://sites.google.com/site/thetheoryofplatetectonics/harry-hess-and-seafloor-spreading
Figure 5- Magnetic Reversal
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Pacific_Rise_seafloor_magnetic_profile_-
_observed_vs_calculated.png
Figure 6- Pacific sea floor crust age
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pacific_seafloor_crust_age_2.gif
Figure 7- Evidences of plate tectonic theory
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oceanic.Stripe.Magnetic.Anomalies.Scheme.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HydroFrac2.svg
https://www.slideshare.net/mrswelsh/plate-tectonic-activity-with-maps-11498065
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tectonic_plates_hotspots-en.svg
Figure 8- Paper illustration
https://www.slideshare.net/nairamode/sea-floor-spreading-50464198
Figure 9- Paper output illustration
https://www.gmsdk12.org/Downloads/sea%20floor%20spreading%20worksheet.pdf
First aid kit
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_aid_bag.jpg
Proper Hand washing
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/how-wash-your-hands-illustration_7246226.htm
<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/hand">Hand vector created by
freepik - www.freepik.com</a>
Links:
Seafloor Spreading
https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/earth/geology-oceanography/info/seafloor-
spreading/supporting-evidence-for-seafloor-spreading

https://www.google.com/search?q=seafloor+spreading+activity&oq=seafloor+spreading+activity
&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.7705j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://earthscience.xyz/SeaFloorSpreading
Plate Tectonics, Continental Drift Theory
https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Plate-Tectonics/Chap1-Pioneers-of-Plate-Tectonics/Alfred-
Wegener/Fossil-Evidence-from-the-Southern-Hemisphere
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

______________ELINETTE B. DELA CRUZ____________

Project Development Officer II
(LRMS)

____________________MARK KIHM G. LARA_____________________

Lay-out Artists

__________________ANNIEDEL F. SINDAC____________________
Video/ PowerPoint Presenter

____________________ LIZA A. ALVAREZ_______ ______________

Video/ PowerPoint Editor

__________________ROSALINA B. PIAMONTE ____________

Video/ PowerPoint Reviewer

_____________________RUBIANN G. SALEN__________________
School Subject Coordinator

_________________DR. LORNA C. RODRIGUEZ______________

Nagpayong High School
School Head

____________________DR. SOFIA J. PAPIO____________________

Public Schools District Supervisor