CONTINENTAL DRIFT

CONTINENTAL DRIFT http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/movies/outreach/sumatra/pangaea.mov

Day 1 • Before: Continental Drift pre-test • During: Vocabulary • After: Discuss vocabulary

Continental Drift Vocabulary

Day 2 • Before: • Learn the “Sid shuffle” • https://youtu.be/uMuJxd2Gpxo • During: PowerPoint/Notes • After: Exit slip

Alfred L. Wegener • Geologist Alfred Wegener noticed similar rocks & fossil remains were found on continents which seemed to fit together • He called this “super” continent called Pangaea • In 1912 Wegener published the first version & died defending his theory

PANGAEA the large landmass that included all of Earth’s present day continents

Support for Continental Drift 1. SHAPE of the continents Continents fit together like puzzle pieces

Support for Continental Drift 1. SHAPE of the continents • Wegener was not the only one to notice the fit of the continents. • 1858: Antonio Pelligrini depicted Africa and South America connected. • He was one of the first scientists to publish maps depicting the apparent fit of the continents.

Support for Continental Drift 2. EVIDENCE FROM FOSSILS SAME FOSSILS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS Mesosaurus and Lystrosaurus were incapable of swimming across a large ocean.

Fossils of the gymnosperm Glossopteris • Found in all of the southern continents provide strong evidence that the continents were once a supercontinent • (seeds could not travel the great distances and were too fragile to survive by a trip across the ocean)

Support for Continental Drift 3. EVIDENCE FROM LANDFORMS Mountain ranges • SAME ROCK: DIFFERENT RANGE Existing mountain ranges separated by vast oceans contain rocks of identical mineral content. • A prime example are the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern U.S and the Caledonian Mountains in the British Isles.

3. LOCATION OF Coal Deposits Support for Continental Drift Coal deposits have been found in temperate and polar regions; however, coal is formed in tropical regions.

GLACIAL SCARS- SAME SCARS: DIFFERENT CONTINENTS Support for Continental Drift 4. Evidence of Climate

4. Evidence of Climate (cnt’d) • Scientists found evidence of TROPICAL plants on the island of Spitsbergen (which is now in the Polar Arctic region. Spitsbergen must have been in a tropical climate at one time.

CONTINENTAL DRIFT IN DOUBT Why didn’t people believe in continental drift? • People couldn’t image how the earth could be millions of years old • People couldn’t image a force great enough to move the continents BUT by the 1960’s evidence would prove continental drift is TRUE and…. The story continues (as does all good science!)

Day 3: • You can print out the websites for them or let them use computers and look up on their own. • Before: ABC Brainstorm Pangaea (5 minutes) • During: Pangaea Webquest (40 min) • After: Discuss answers to the sheet (5 minutes)

Name _______________________ Pangaea Webquest http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/antarctica/ideas/gondwana.html Look at the website listed above to answer the following questions. 1) What was different about Antarctica 200 million years ago (mya)? 2) What is Pangaea? 3) What happened during the past 200 mya that caused these changes into the Antarctica we know today? Now click on the link “interactive animation” (URL address below) and answer the following questions. http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/antarctica/ideas/gondwana2.html 4) What is the theory of continental drift? (hint: click on the link) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5) How fast can continental drift move? ___________________ 6) How long ago did Pangaea begin to split up? ______________ 7) What are the names of the two large landmasses that Pangaea split into? ____________ ________________ 8) What did each of these landmasses continue to split into? 9) Fill in the flow chart to the right based on your answers to #8. 10) Provide and explain one type of evidence that supports continental drift. 11) Provide and explain another type of evidence that supports continental drift. 12) Provide and explain another type of evidence that supports continental drift. 13) Provide and explain another type of evidence that supports continental drift. 14) How many million years ago (mya) did Australia break apart from Antarctica? _____________ 15) Using the timeline function (beginning 235 mya), which direction has South America drifted? ___________ Which direction has Africa drifted? ______________ Which direction has Australia drifted? ____________ Which direction has Antarctica drifted? _____________ Which direction has India drifted? _____________ Visit: http://www.phschool.com/atschool/phsciexp/active_art/continental_drift/continental_drift.swf and click the circle titled “225 million years ago.” Try to identify Pangaea’s landmasses by dragging down our Earth’s current continents to their correct location 225 mya. Next, click on “180-200 million years ago” and try again to identify Laurasia’s and Gondwanaland’s landmasses.

Day 4 • Before: Read instructions aloud (attached) • During: Pangaea Puzzle • After: Discuss answers • Extra: Cross word puzzle

(Before)Instructions: • Instructions: • You will be piecing together a puzzle of the supercontinent Pangea based on fossil and rock evidence on the present day continents. • 1. On the puzzle pieces handout, assign a color to each type of fossil or mountain belt in the legend and color the areas on the landmasses according to the legend. • 2. Use scissors to cut along the borders of the continents. These are the approximate shape of the continents after Pangea broke up. • 3. Place the continents on a piece of construction paper and move them around using the fossil and mountain chain evidence to match the continents together in the position they were in when they were part of Pangea. The pieces may not fit together exactly! • 4. When you have assembled Pangea based on the fossil and rock locations, glue the continents onto your construction paper

During (Questions) Questions: 1. What is the idea of Continental Drift? 2. Which 2 continents have the most obvious fit of the coastlines? 3. How were the fossil symbols and mountain belts helpful in deciding where to move the continents? 4. Why don’t the present shapes of the continents fit perfectly into a supercontinent? 5. Which fossil occurs on the most landmasses? What does this suggest about when these particular continents broke up?

Day 5 test

CONTINENTAL DRIFT