Knowledge or Skills and understanding?

Answer

The movement of the plates and the activity inside the Earth is called the theory of plate tectonics. {knowledge}

Summarise what the theory of plate tectonics is in 50 words. {skills and understanding}

It was once believed that convection currents in the mantle caused the plates to move. However, it is now recognised to be more complicated than this. Mechanisms called slab pull and ridge push are believed to move the tectonic plates. Therefore, instead of tectonic plates moving because of the convection currents, evidence suggests it is the plates that drive the convection. {knowledge}

Explain how our knowledge regarding what causes the earth’s plates to move has changed over time. {skills and understanding}

Ridge push is where the new crust formed at divergent margins is less dense than the surrounding crust and so it rises from oceanic ridges. {knowledge}