Crackers, Continents and Collisions in Year 3

This week in Geography, Year 3 took their learning underground. Building on last week’s introduction to the Earth’s layers and tectonic plates, students answered one of the key questions in physical geography: what happens when two tectonic plates meet?

The children began with some retrieval practice, attempting to label the layers of the Earth and define key terms before introducing the lesson’s big idea: plate boundaries. Through discussion and shared thinking, they began to explore the four main types: convergent, divergent, subduction and transform boundaries, each responsible for shaping some of the world’s most dramatic landscapes.

The highlight of the lesson was the Cracker model. Using crackers and shortening to represent tectonic plates and the mantle beneath them, students worked in groups to model each boundary type, pushing, pulling, and sliding their “plates” to recreate the forces that formed the Himalayas, the Andes, and the Alps. Groups matched their models to photographs of real geographical features. The lesson closed with students adding these iconic mountain ranges to their class world map, building an early understanding of our planet that they will continue to grow as they move through our school.