Students should show knowledge of the major plates and their location. The processes that drive the plates should be understood and linked with formation and operation of constructive, destructive and conservative boundaries and hot spots. These boundaries could be effectively studied through exemplar material. Constructive margins could be studied through a comparison of the Mid Atlantic Ridge and the East African Rift Valley. Note however that the Key Question deals with pattern and process and does not require an exploration of landforms.

The hazards associated with plate tectonics are many and varied and students should gain an understanding of how they are linked to tectonic process. The hazards produced can be seen to be primary and secondary but it is recognised that the boundary between the two can be blurred. A knowledge and understanding of the major hazards associated with earthquakes and/or volcanoes should be obtained by students such as ground shaking, liquefaction, tsunami, land slides, lava flows, ash fall, pyroclastic flows and lahars together with secondary hazards such as mud slides. This is not an exhaustive list and the use of exemplar material may touch on others. The impacts of tectonic hazards should be examined at a local and regional scale to show that volcanoes and/or earthquakes have effects at a variety of scales. The impacts of tectonic hazards can be addressed by an examination of demographic, economic and social consequences of examples but these need not be covered in equal proportions as contemporary events may give different emphasis.

Students should understand that tectonic hazards are perceived in different ways by different groups of people. Hazards can be seen in both a positive and negative light. Examples of negative perceptions will be highlighted in 2.2 and the groups they affect can be identified, and elaborated on, in this section. Tectonic hazards can also be seen as positive as they provide economic opportunities such as tourism and mineral extraction. Knowledge of strategies to overcome tectonic hazards should be the basis of an analysis of their effectiveness. Examples can be used to achieve this knowledge with the understanding that not all strategies can be covered in the time allowed. Two or three examples can be used to cover strategies such as prediction, prevention, preparation, adaptation and land use planning. Students should be guided in the evaluation of these strategies with regard to society, demography, economy and politics. All the principles are useful for G3 Theme 3.