🧪 Science with Sarah: Graham Cracker Plate Tectonics 🌋

Hello parents, teachers and students! If you’re looking for a fun way to explore how landscapes and our world have changed over millions of years, check out this fun, edible exercise using graham crackers and frosting.

Be sure to watch GMSA@9 on Wednesdays, when KSAT Meteorologist Sarah Spivey demonstrates and explains the science behind it.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• A plastic plate
• Vanilla frosting
• Food dye
• A spoon
• Graham crackers

DO THE ACTIVITY

• STEP 1: Dye your frosting orange to look like the Earth’s mantle
• STEP 2: Place about two spoonfuls of frosting on the plate, and spread it evenly

• STEP 3: Place two graham crackers on top of the frosting

• STEP 4: Pull the crackers apart. This simulates the movement of two tectonic plates away from each other, called divergence. The frosting in between the crackers should be visible. In real life, the newly exposed mantle from diverging plates becomes the ocean floor!
• STEP 5: Eat the diverging plates ;)

• STEP 6: Place two more graham crackers on top of the frosting. Now, push them together, allowing one cracker to slide under the other. You should see a little mound of frosting form. This is called convergence. The cracker that slides under the other represents a subduction zone. In real life, converging plates form mountains and volcanoes. Subduction zones are responsible for deep ocean trenches
• STEP 7: Place two more plates on the frosting. Slide them horizontally against each other. This represents transformation. In real life, the movement of tectonic plates causes earthquakes.

SCIENCE WITH SARAH

If you’d like Sarah to come to your school and conduct a science experiment live on KSAT, fill out this form. “Winners” are selected at random.