Yes, I think the research would suggest the challenge is eliciting their partial understandings first, and working with their ideas, to help them construct a scientific explanation. In sci Ed we worry less about introducing miscon, more about understanding thinking so we can build their schema.

This could make their thinking visible to you and others in the class so you could discuss the ideas as related to density (and energy) and provide further opportunities for investigation driven by their questions and partial understandings.

I defer to your content expertise here, but I wonder if your original question about the challenge of students understanding subducting plates isn't driven by a conceptual issue? And if so could it be helpful to ask them to explain/model/draw the lava lamp phenomenon?

For what it is worth, here is a write up of this phenomena within the context of high school but it is my belief the concepts of density and energy transfer could be the hang up docs.google.com/document/d/1...

True, but you cannot really model the transfers of energy in this system without bringing density into the model. Correct?

This might be a silly suggestion but, how about observing a lava lamp as a starting place? Model how energy and density changes drive the motion, what forces in this system work to drive the movement? What is the energy story? Then move to plates and density.

As a K-12 educator I find the focus on “how I explain” this phenomenon interesting. Doesn’t the shift here need to be asking your students to model and explain their thinking? Then use classroom experiences to help them construct more scientifically accurate explanations? Teaching is not telling.

Very cool, thank you!

What about a question from the Pacific Northwest? Are there any good web resources to track the movement of the North American plate as the tension builds in the Cascadia Subduction Zone?