This document summarizes key aspects of plate tectonics and how it relates to the environment, minerals, rocks, and ecology. It describes how plate tectonics theory explains the movement of tectonic plates in the earth's lithosphere. There are three main types of plate boundaries: divergent where plates move apart, convergent where they collide, and transform faults where motion is horizontal. Plate tectonics causes volcanism and mountain building which can influence climate patterns. Weathering and mining impact the environment and change rocks and minerals over time. Environmental factors like temperature and rainfall also control the rate of rock weathering. Ecology differs from geology in that ecology studies the relationships between living organisms and their habitat,