Graham Cracker Plate Tectonics Activity and Project

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Looking for a fresh, hands-on way to teach plate tectonics?

This graham cracker plate tectonics activity is a print-and-go, comic-style resource that makes learning about Earth’s shifting plates fun, accessible, and memorable!

Your students won’t just read about tectonic plate boundaries—they’ll see them come to life through engaging illustrations. The lesson concludes with the opportunity to build each type of plate boundary with graham crackers. Students will conclude the lesson by creating their own plate tectonics comics.

This one-of-a-kind lesson is designed for middle school science and homeschool learners. It’s especially effective for struggling readers, English language learners (ELL/ESL), and visual learners who thrive on storytelling and graphics instead of dense textbooks.

🌍 What’s Included:

Illustrated Science Content – Teaches plate tectonics, continental drift, and tectonic plate boundaries through visual, comic-style storytelling
Worksheets & Doodle Notes – Interactive resources to reinforce key ideas and enhance understanding
Graham Cracker Plate Tectonics Lab – A hands-on exploration of divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries (plus snacks!). The instructions are fully illustrated!
Google Slides Deck – Editable, Animated, and Shareable. Project or assign digitally to walk through the content visually
Plate Tectonics One-Pager Project – A creative way for students to synthesize what they’ve learned
Coloring Pages & Plate Tectonics Word Search – Low-prep, fun-filled activities for early finishers or review

Whether you’re introducing plate tectonics or wrapping up with a fun, interactive review, this resource has everything you need to make plate tectonics stick.

More Science Comics

Buoyancy Comic and Doodle Notes

Convection Currents Lesson and Activities

Rock Cycle Lesson and Starburst Lab

Fossil Fuels Lesson and Activities

Continental Drift Lesson and Activities

What makes Cool School Comics such an impactful learning tool?

They are FUN!

This is the most crucial benefit.
Students are more willing to participate and more engaged.
The content STICKS.

Visual learning is EFFECTIVE.

About 65% of the population consists of visual learners.
Visual information is processed faster.
Students who SEE information are more likely to retain it.

EASY to implement!

These lesson plans are complete and ready to go, requiring minimal prep time.
You only need to make copies, upload supplements to your virtual classrooms, and set up the hands-on activities.
Lots of flexibility! You can print these as posters, add them to interactive notebooks, hand them out to students, or share them virtually. There is plenty of room for modifications.

ACTIVE LEARNING

Every lesson plan has a low-prep, wallet-friendly, hands-on component.
Instructions are in a visual format
Follow-up questions or a lab report are always included

Comics make content ACCESSIBLE

Naturally differentiated, comics accommodate a wide range of learning abilities and styles.
Great for classrooms with a diverse population of learners
They can simultaneously rope in both your gifted and struggling students (and everyone in between).
Reluctant readers gravitate toward comics.
Comics help English Language Learners (ESL, ELL) and some SPED students find success.

Be the hip teacher seizing the graphic novels craze. Your students will LOVE it!

**Doodle Notes is a trademarked term used with permission. Please visit www.Doodlenotes.org for more information.