Chao is thinking about doing a project on plate tectonics for the school science fair. Which design would best relate to how the movement in the Earth’s mantle is related to plate motion?

The best model should show heated mantle material moving beneath tectonic plates and carrying them along. In choice D, heating the thick liquid can create convection currents, while the floating plastic pieces represent plates moving on the surface. Choice A shows movement in heated water, but it does not model plates riding on top of the moving material.

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